Tom Watson was appointed chair of UK Music in April 2020, succeeding Andy Heath CBE.
He is the former Deputy Leader of the Labour and MP for West Bromwich East. He sat on the front bench for his party under four successive leaders including two Prime Ministers.
Following his election as an MP in 2001, Tom served in two government departments including a spell working directly with Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street during the economic crisis of 2008.
He was the shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport between 2016 to 2019.
Tom was appointed to the House of Lords in 2022 after receiving a life peerage. He was created Baron Watson of Wyre Forest, of Kidderminster in the County of Worcestershire on November 21 2022.
During his time in Parliament, Tom worked on many cross-party campaigns, including support for the reform of live music licensing and fair ticketing.
A founder member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music, Tom actively supported UK Music’s members on a variety of cross-party campaigns, from help for grassroots venues to the Copyright Directive. Tom has also been a trustee of the Ivors Academy Trust.
Before entering Parliament he was a national officer of the Engineering and Electrical Union and an officer for the Save the Children charity.
He is the author of two Sunday Times best-selling books, the latest Downsizing plotting his successful efforts to reverse Type 2 Diabetes.
His first major gig was to see Kid Creole and the Coconuts in 1982 at Birmingham Odeon.