Tom Watson's Move to Palantir Reveals the Deep Rot in UK Politics

Tom Watson and the Palantir Connection

Whatever is said about Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labour party has a knack for landing headlines. In the past, he did it at the expense of the rich and powerful – from News International over phone hacking to the Home Office over its mass surveillance of our data.

"Watson's new appointment is more than just a private career choice. It sends yet another signal to a weary public about just how far the rot in our democracy has spread."

But his latest headline – that he has joined Palantir as a senior vice-president – has been at the expense of public confidence in the political class.

A Surveillance Giant's Reach

Palantir is not your average tech company. It's a firm built on surveillance and military targeting. Its co-founder Peter Thiel wrote in 2009 that he no longer believed freedom and democracy were compatible. He sees technology as an alternative to politics, a way to change the world without having to persuade voters.

Palantir's CEO, Alex Karp, has boasted that its work is there “to scare enemies and on occasion kill them.” Its software is used to target people for ICE raids in the US, and civilians in Gaza. This isn't just another global corporation with some unsavoury corners to its business.

Access Over Skills?

I can't parse Watson's mind or motivation. Palantir probably doesn't hire a former deputy leader for his coding skills. But does it hire access? Access to networks across party and government, and to the doors behind which Palantir would fight to keep a £330m NHS England contract and legally challenge Sadiq Khan's block on a £50m Metropolitan police contract?

Watson won't be alone. He will join more than 30 former UK officials at a company that Peter Mandelson's former lobbying firm, Global Counsel, counted as a client. Mandelson accompanied Keir Starmer to Palantir's Washington office in 2025, while still retaining a stake in Global Counsel.

The Revolving Door Problem

The MoD has since signed a major partnership with Palantir. And none of this will have broken a single law. The rules on jobs for former ministers last only two years and have no legal force. That's the problem.

Whether it's Tony Blair and his relationship with Oracle, Mandelson and Global Counsel or Nick Clegg and his time at Meta, the section of the political class meant to oppose vested interests and promote public service appears to have switched sides.

The Integrity Gap

According to the Institute for Public Policy Research's latest findings, the main political parties, including Labour and the Liberal Democrats, have been accepting donations from wealthy individuals at an accelerating pace. The research found 72% of all £1m-plus donations from individuals since records began in 2001 had come since 2019.

"Every flagrant act deepens public cynicism about politics, and about the democracy that depends on public trust."

This is a fact of which those around Trump are well aware. They know every allegation of presidential corruption erodes people's willingness to defend democracy.

Thiel's Vision vs. Democracy

Thiel understands this implicitly. His vision for our society is simply not compatible with a progressive worldview. That is why a former Labour deputy leader lending his name to Palantir matters so much.

The integrity gap will not close with better messaging. It will close only when politicians show whose side they are on. That means revolving-door rules with the force of law, and a regulator with teeth. It means capping political donations and ending second jobs in the House of Commons, while abolishing the House of Lords altogether.

Conclusion: A Choice Must Be Made

Those who sell access to power have made their choice. Those who oppose Thiel's vision need to make theirs, and act on it. It's time to pick a side.