Tommy Sheridan

Tommy Sheridan (born 7 March 1964, Glasgow) is a Scottish socialist politician. He has had various prominent roles within the socialist movement in Scotland and is currently one of two co-convenors of the left-wing Scottish political party Solidarity.

Sheridan was active as a Militant tendency entryist in the Labour Party until 1989 when he was expelled, and became a member of Scottish Militant Labour (SML) formed in 1992. He was a prominent campaigner against the poll tax in Scotland, and was jailed for six months for attending a warrant sale after Glasgow Sheriff Court had served a court order on him banning his presence. Sheridan has twice been jailed in connection with campaigning against the presence of the nuclear fleet at Faslane Naval Base - a presence which continues.

In 2006 in the case of Sheridan v News International he won an action for defamation against the News of the World and was awarded £200,000 damages. The following year, he was charged with perjury, for having told lies to the court in the defamation case. In the following weeks, six of his relations and colleagues were also charged. In October 2010, he appeared together with his wife Gail at a trial for perjury. While the charges against his wife were withdrawn, on 23 December 2010, Sheridan was convicted of perjury, and on 26 January he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. In the light of the News of the World phone hacking affair, the Crown Office has been ordered to reassess the case. He was released from prison on 30 January 2012, one year into his sentence.

Since failing to be re-elected to Holyrood in 2007, he has pursued a media career, with a chat show on Talk 107, a show at the Edinburgh Fringe and appearing on Celebrity Big Brother 2009 for a reported fee of £100,000. He has justified this appearance by saying that he needed the money and that it is "..an honest offer of employment. I'm not crossing a picket line. I'm not hurting anyone."