Mark Thomas is one of the UK's most effective and best-known political activists, as well as being a highly successful stand-up comedian. His show, The Mark Thomas Product, ran for six highly acclaimed series on Channel Four. His activist, campaigning brand of comedy has been a thorn in the side of many politicians and corporations.

Thomas was born in South London, won a scholarship to Christ's Hospital school, gained a degree in Theatre Arts at Bretton Hall College. He was the resident stand-up comic on Saturday Zoo, a Channel 4 comedy series first screened in 1993. He also presented the highly successful BBC Radio 1 talk show Loose Talk and is a founder member of the London Comedy Store's hard hitting Cutting Edge show.

His political comedy shows on Channel 4 earned him criticism from politicians but were seen by critics as a crucial investigative tool. In one show, Thomas investigated the practice of avoiding inheritance tax by declaring art, furniture, homes and land available for public viewing. Thomas showed how Nicholas Soames hid this fact from the public and at the same time avoided paying tax. After being pursued relentlessly by Thomas legitimately asking for permission to see his furniture, Soames eventually paid the tax, and Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer changed the law.

Thomas is the Chairman of the Ilisu Dam Campaign, a campaign which was successful in temporarily blocking the development of a large-scale hydroelectric dam in southeast Turkey that campaigners claim will lead to the displacement of up to 78,000 people, mostly Kurds, without adequate compensation or consultation, as well as to environmental and cultural destruction.

More recently Thomas has been working with War on Want in India and investigating and filming human rights violations in Colombia where trade unions are targeted by militia allegedly controlled by the government. He has written a regular column for the New Statesman since 2001.

Mark has been awarded a UN Global Human rights Defender Award and a Kurdish National Congress Medal of Honour amongst other citations.

His previous best-selling books include "Belching out the Devil", an expose of the Coca Cola company, and "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela", on the international arms trade.

Visit Mark Thomas's website.