Thom Brooks is Professor of Law, Ethics & Government, Durham Law School & the Principal, Collingwood College, Durham University (UK)
A leading voice on citizenship, immigration and law bridging rigorous scholarship with real-world policy impact to shape fairer governance in Britain and beyond.
➡️ Policy impact | Media | Speaking | Publications | Leadership | Contact
Policy impact
Gave oral evidence to the House of Lords Justice & Home Affairs Committee (January 2026) on citizenship and immigration.
Research cited in three parliamentary select committee reports on immigration and border policy.
Informed the Law Commission’s simplification review of the Immigration Rules and its inquiry into electronic border management.
Cited by the Electoral Commission on the EU referendum question; proposed wording accepted by government — described by ITV News as ‘the man behind Leave and Remain‘.
Formally thanked in Parliament for supporting the Home Office on the National Security Act 2023.
Scholarship on capital punishment cited by the Connecticut Supreme Court in its landmark decision to abolish the death penalty.
➡️ Policy | Research | Speaking | Contact
In their words
“A very good and thought-provoking read.”
— Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on Becoming British
“The first major pamphlet on Labour’s immigration policy for over a decade.”
— POLITICO, on New Arrivals (winner of the Jenny Jeger Prize)
Fellowships & recognition
Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences recognised for distinguished contribution to social science
Academic Bencher, Inner Temple, one of the Inns of Court’s senior honorary appointments
Jenny Jeger Prize (2022) for New Arrivals from the Fabian Society
Member, Academia Europaea, a pan-European learned academy of leading scholars
President, Society of Legal Scholars (2020–2021), only second President not British or Irish by birth
Top 100 Big Ideas for the Future by the UK Research Councils for my theory of punishment
Media & policy engagement
Regular contributor across BBC, ITV, Sky News and CNN, and in The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Independent. Member of the Fabian Society executive committee (third term).
Broadcast: BBC Radio 4 · BBC News · ITV News · Sky News · CNN · Channel 4 News and many more
Print & online: The Times · The Guardian · The Telegraph · The Independent · The Spectator and others
Selected publications
Thom Brooks, Hegel’s Political Philosophy 2nd edition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2013.
Thom Brooks & Martha C. Nussbaum (eds), Rawls’s Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015.
Thom Brooks, Becoming British. London: Biteback, 2016.
Thom Brooks (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Global Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
Thom Brooks, Climate Change Ethics for an Endangered World. London: Routledge, 2020.
Thom Brooks, Punishment 2nd edition. London: Routledge, 2021.
Thom Brooks, New Arrivals. London: Fabian Society, 2022 (won Jenny Jeger Prize).
Thom Brooks, Reforming the UK’s Citizenship Test. Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2022.
Thom Brooks, Political Philosophy: The Fundamentals. Oxford: Blackwell, 2025.
Founding editor, Journal of Moral Philosophy. Serves on 20+ editorial boards and 10 academic book series.
Academic leadership
Principal, Collingwood College, Durham University — focusing on student leadership, opportunity and public engagement.
Founding Director of Collingwood Future, an interdisciplinary initiative on AI, ethics and leadership launching in autumn 2026.
Inaugural and longest-serving Dean of Durham Law School (2016–2021), doubled the School’s size, achieved best-ever QS and Times Higher rankings, congratulated in House of Commons EDM 875.
Visiting positions at Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Oxford, Penn, Yale and others.
Get in touch
Available for speaking engagements, parliamentary and policy briefings, media commentary, and strategic consultancy on law, immigration and higher education.
➡️ Contact Thom Brooks | View full CV (pdf) | Speaking enquiries | Policy & consultancy
