Editing Mark Thomas (section)

==Politics==
As a part of his television series, Thomas stood as an Independent candidate for the safe [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] parliamentary seat of [[Hemsworth (UK Parliament constituency)|Hemsworth]] in [[1996 Hemsworth by-election|a 1996 by-election]]. He came eighth of ten candidates with 122 votes (0.6%) as the election was won by Labour's [[Jon Trickett]].<ref name="Demon">{{cite web|url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1992.html|title=Results of Byelections in the 1992-97 Parliament|last=Boothroyd|first=David|access-date=26 July 2023|website=United Kingdom Election Results|archive-date=20 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720031954/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1992.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In his 4 March 2002 ''New Statesman'' column,<ref name="newstatesman">
{{cite magazine
|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/node/142337
|title=My own contribution to the war on terrorism is to promise my New Statesman earnings to anyone who'll kill Bush
|date=4 March 2002
|access-date=2007-04-05
|magazine=[[New Statesman]]
|author=Mark Thomas}}
</ref> Thomas placed a [[bounty (reward)|bounty]] on the head of US President George Bush to the value of £4,320<ref name="timeout"/> (his total earnings writing for the magazine to that point).

In February 2009 British entertainers [[David Baddiel]], [[Bill Bailey]], [[Morwenna Banks]], [[Sanjeev Bhaskar]], [[Jo Brand]], [[Russell Brand]], [[Rob Brydon]], [[Jimmy Carr]], [[Jack Dee]], [[Omid Djalili]], [[Sean Lock]], [[Lee Mack]], [[Alexei Sayle]], [[Meera Syal]], Mark Thomas said in an open letter printed in [[The Times]] newspaper of the Baháʼí leaders to be on trial in Iran: "In reality, their only "crime", which the current regime finds intolerable, is that they hold a religious belief that is different from the majority.... we register our solidarity with all those in Iran who are being persecuted for promoting the best development of society ...(and) with the governments, human rights organisations and people of goodwill throughout the world who have so far raised their voices calling for a fair trial, if not the complete release of the Baháʼí leaders in Iran."<ref>{{Cite news | title = Stand up for Iran's Baha'is – Voices from the arts call for the imprisoned Baha'i leaders in Iran to receive a fair trial | newspaper = The Times | date =  2009-02-26 | url =http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5804284.ece| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110814134123/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5804284.ece| url-status =dead| archive-date =14 August 2011}}</ref> Echoing the comments earlier in the month made by two hundred and sixty seven non-Baháʼí Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists and activists from 21 countries including Iran who signed an open letter of apology posted to [[Iranian.com]] and stating they were "ashamed" and pledging their support in Baháʼís achieving the rights detailed in the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] for the Baháʼís in Iran.<ref>{{Cite news | publisher = Iranian.com | title = We are ashamed! | magazine = Iranian.com | date = 2009-02-04 | url =http://www.iranian.com/main/2009/feb/we-are-ashamed}}</ref> See [[Persecution of Baháʼís]].

Prior to the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 UK general election]], he was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]]'s [[Caroline Lucas]].<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/24/celebrities-sign-statement-support-caroline-lucas-not-green-party | title= Celebrities sign statement of support for Caroline Lucas – but not the Greens | work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Jessica | last=Elgot | date=24 April 2015 | access-date=22 July 2015}}</ref>

In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Thomas signed a letter endorsing the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] under [[Jeremy Corbyn]]'s leadership in the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]]. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."<ref name="theguardian1">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/03/vote-for-hope-and-a-decent-future|title= Vote for hope and a decent future |work=[[The Guardian]]|date=3 December 2019|access-date=4 December 2019}}</ref><ref name="theguardian2">{{cite news |last=Proctor|first=Kate|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/03/coogan-klein-lead-cultural-figures-backing-corbyn-labour|title=Coogan and Klein lead cultural figures backing Corbyn and Labour|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=3 December 2019|access-date=4 December 2019}}</ref>