Thom Brooks

Thomas "Thom" Brooks, (born 14 October 1973) is an American-British political philosopher and legal scholar. He is Professor of Law and Government in Durham Law School at Durham University with associate membership in the Department of Philosophy and School of Government and International Affairs. From 1992 to 1997, he studied at William Paterson University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in 1997, majoring in music and political science. He then studied political science at Arizona State University and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1999. He studied for an MA in philosophy at University College Dublin, graduating in 2000 with first class honours. From 2001, he undertook postgraduate research in philosophy at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Robert Stern and Leif Wenar. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2004.

Academic career Brooks started his academic career at Newcastle University. He was a lecturer in political thought from 2004 to 2007.

In 2012, Brooks joined the Durham Law School, Durham University, as a reader in law, and its Philosophy Department as an associate member.

On 1 August 2016, was appointed head of the Durham Law School and the school's inaugural Dean. As Dean, Brooks introduced Chinese law into the LLB and LLM curriculum alongside a new annual Chinese law summer school - the first ever in the UK and first time in English outside Asia. He completed his term in December 2021. Brooks was the president of the Society of Legal Scholars from 2020-21. He took up the post in September 2025.

Research and contributions

In 2013, Brooks wrote a report analysing the United Kingdom's new citizenship test. His report was titled "The 'Life in the United Kingdom test': Is It Unfit for Purpose?". He was highly critical of the test, concluding that it was "unfit for purpose". He criticised the test's focus on "British culture and history at the expense of practical knowledge".

Brooks publishes widely on criminal justice and sentencing. His "unified theory of punishment" is noted as one of the top 100 Big Ideas for the Future in a report by RCUK. Brooks has written three books, edited two reports and 23 collections, published over 130 articles and 150 columns. In 2015, the Electoral Commission quotes Brooks in support of its proposed changes to the EU Referendum. They proposed changing the ballot choices to "Remain" and "Leave" and this was later accepted by the UK Government.

Brooks appears frequently on media, including television, radio and newspapers often discussing migration policy. He has been interviewed by Andrew Marr.

Brooks is founding Editor of the Journal of Moral Philosophy which he led from 2003-2012, launched while he was a PhD student. He is also an Advisory Editor of the University of Bologna Law Review, a general student-edited law journal published by the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Bologna.

Personal life Brooks has been a citizen of the United States since birth and became a citizen of the United Kingdom in 2011, becoming a dual citizenship holder. His report is cited several times in Parliamentary debates. Brooks has been called "the UK's leading expert on the citizenship test".

Brooks is a member of the British Labour Party and the UNISON trade union. He has written about his view of the Labour Party's policy on immigration, including making a range of proposals on the topic. He has made past comments supporting New Labour and Sedgefield's Tony Blair, and supported Liz Kendall in the 2015 Labour leadership contest. He has championed party unity over factionalism. Brooks is a vocal supporter of Labour Leader Keir Starmer. In 2022, Brooks published a Fabian Society pamphlet New Arrivals: A Fair Immigration System for Labour that presented a new model for a Labour-led post-Brexit points-based system. His report won the Fabian Society's Jenny Jeger Prize in 2022.

Brooks writes columns for The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, LabourList, The Times and others often on immigration topics.

Honours In 2009, Brooks was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).

Selected works