Former Labour deputy Tom Watson joins Palantir as £330M NHS deal nears break point

Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has joined Palantir in a senior UK role as the government weighs invoking a break clause in the company's £330 million National Health Service (NHS) contract. This move marks Palantir's latest recruitment of political and public service figures as it aims to expand its government business. Palantir CEO Alex Karp stated that Watson's experience aligns with the company's mission to enhance public services.

Watson, who previously advised Palantir since 2024, will assume the position of UK senior vice president, collaborating with Louis Mosley, executive vice president for the UK and Europe. Mosley emphasized Watson's role in addressing the Prime Minister's challenge to companies with public contracts, focusing on supporting British jobs, investing in skills, and delivering services in all regions.

Watson, who had been on leave from the House of Lords since March, will remain so while working for Palantir and has surrendered his parliamentary pass. These developments come amid scrutiny of the revolving door between government and technology firms, particularly as Palantir's major public sector contracts face political challenges.

In April, Zubir Ahmed, a junior minister at the Department of Health and Social Care, expressed the possibility of terminating Palantir's seven-year Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract when the break clause becomes available next spring. However, replacing the platform provider abruptly could prove challenging, with the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee recommending early preparation for a potential replacement before the contract's break clause in February.

The NHS and Palantir assert that the subsequent competition was open and fair, highlighting the platform's success in linking data sources to address the health service's elective care backlog.