Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labour party, has joined the company Palantir as a senior vice-president. This move has been described as impacting public confidence in the political class.
Palantir is a company built on surveillance and military targeting. Its co-founder, Peter Thiel, stated in 2009 that he no longer believed freedom and democracy were compatible. The company's co-founder and chief executive, Alex Karp, has stated that its work is there "to scare enemies and on occasion kill them."
Watson's appointment follows other instances of politicians moving into roles with corporations, such as Tony Blair with Oracle, Peter Mandelson with Global Counsel, and Nick Clegg with Meta. The Institute for Public Policy Research has found that 72% of all individual donations of £1 million or more to main political parties since 2001 have occurred since 2019.