Malcolm Tucker
His fierce reputation for verbally abusing people became what Deputy Minister of DoSAC Fergus Williams (Geoffrey Streatfeild) referred to as, "a rite of passage" for politicians, to be "Tuckered".
His constant scheming, although borderline "Malchiavellian" (a portmanteau of "Malcolm" and "Machiavellian") in the words of Hugh Abbot, is paradoxically aimed at a common good, namely the prevalence of the party line and the resolution of issues arising from ministerial incompetence, whereas apparently friendly characters such as Ollie come across as covertly self-serving and egotistical by comparison.
He is also implied to be a self-made man of humble origins (Mannion calls him the "Gorbals Goebbels", seemingly in reference to his hometown), a firm believer in meritocracy and a staunch opponent of classism and cronyism, such as when he compares the intentions of an MP's daughter to capitalise on her family connections to the practices of the Russian Empire and "the fucking Dimblebys".
This probably places him well within the left wing of his own party, which although unnamed is strongly implied to be Labour; at one point aide Jamie even accuses him of being a member of the "Nutters", loosely based on the Gordon Brown faction which heavily contested Blair's Third Way politics.
Cal Richards, nicknamed "The Fucker", is arguably the one person in British politics who is even more aggressive and unpredictable, whose excessively cruel and borderline psychopathic persona gives him legendary status within his party; his one on-screen appearance showed him bullying Pearson by pretending to sack him, and indiscriminately shouting torrents of abuse at the Opposition staff.
Steve Fleming, while not as feared as Malcolm (mostly due to the fact that, unlike Tucker, he seldom swears), is nonetheless infamous throughout the party for his obsequious, unctuous personality (which is once described by Ollie Reeder as "Obsessive Repulsive Disorder").
Devoid of morals or competence by comparison, he is a cool, calm man who does not usually raise his voice and hides his intellectual mediocrity behind hip, pseudo-modern political jargon, filled with bizarre buzzwords that no-one understands; Adam Kenyon complains that he "need[s] subtitles" in order to be understood.
His treatment of Hugh's successor, Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front), was considerably more sympathetic, with Tucker deeming her a "nice lady", and even helping to move forward her rather fanciful policy ideas.
However, this professional respect quickly deteriorated following the general election; Nicola's time as Leader of the Opposition was a complete disaster, until Malcolm staged a coup d'état against her, declaring her "a waste of skin".
He has a long-standing rivalry with party life peer Julius Nicholson (Alex MacQueen), who delights in his sacking at the end of series 3 but does help him return to power in the next episode.
Despite Tucker's highly vengeful nature, in the immediate aftermath of his own forced resignation at the end of series 3, rather than becoming enraged he instead tries to reassure Sam and protect her from the men removing him from his office.
In Series 1, Department of Social Affairs (DSA) minister Cliff Lawton is sacked by Malcolm Tucker because of press pressure, though he drafts him a letter of resignation to give him "the chance to say you're jumping before you're pushed".
He then intimidates Ollie Reeder's ex-girlfriend, Angela Heaney, who was the journalist originally assigned to cover the story, into not reporting on the farcical flip-flopping that resulted from dysfunctional communication within government.
After Malcolm reads an upcoming inquiry report that incriminates Hugh badly, he decides to send the message that the government will not "throw a good man out to the wolves over one single little fuck up."
Their attempt to properly prepare a "junior nutter," Ben Swain, for an interview with Jeremy Paxman on the problems in the immigration system, fails miserably and he embarrasses himself on TV.
Furious with Malcolm for his involvement in the PM's resignation, Jamie tries to take control himself by leaking a story about Tom's alleged use of antidepressants, causing the prime minister-in-waiting to lose support very rapidly.
In Series 3, Malcolm scrambles to assign the DoSAC position amidst a reshuffle; when most candidates refuse the job, he is forced to choose Nicola Murray, who is much less politically experienced than he had hoped.
At the same time, Malcolm has to contend with a by-election in Leamington Spa that might be compromised by the daughter of the previous MP standing as an independent, thus damaging the chances of the party's candidate, Liam Bentley.
At a party conference in Eastbourne, Malcolm is tipped off by Angela Heaney's enquiries that health statistics that Tom is going to announce in his speech are actually fake numbers lifted from an online blog.
In retaliation, Malcolm swiftly tricks a blogger into spinning a story that it was actually them who decided to drop her because of her "extremist views", which are actually just the fact that she supports allowing vendors the freedom to use any measuring system.
Instead of unleashing his wrath on Terri, Malcolm confides in her about the immense stress he is currently under trying to keep the party functioning, as well as his political clout starting to ebb, potentially due to the resurfacing of his arch enemy Steve Fleming.
Due to a throwaway comment made by one of his journalist contacts, he compels the DoSAC staff to abandon the idea of using a celebrity as their policy sponsor, just as they have confirmed Andy Murray.
When Nicola takes a train to Bradford to spearhead a PR stunt in the hopes of improving her image, Malcolm encourages Ben Swain to resign from his position as Shadow Minister for DoSAC to precipitate the putsch, with the promise that he will re-enter cabinet as Foreign Secretary.
In the ensuing chaos, Malcolm encourages Nicola to call for an inquiry into Tickel's death, knowing that the fallout caused by the leaked email will spell the end of both hers and Ben's political careers.
It is revealed in the inquiry that Malcolm was in possession of Tickel's medical records and National Insurance number after an accidental admission by drawing attention to a photograph that he helped organise to bring down Nicola Murray.
The character is based on several figures, most notably real life Director of Communications for Prime Minister Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, who admitted to his liberal use of profanities in the workplace.
This he does by fabricating intelligence in what could be a fictionalised version of the so-called "Dodgy Dossier" issued by Alastair Campbell and used by the British government to justify its involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
[4][7] Two months after the airing of the final episode of series four, Peter Capaldi appeared on GQ magazine's front cover as Malcolm Tucker and recorded a Christmas message to fans.
[11] Tucker makes an appearance in Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's 2012 comic book The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century 2009, where he is seen being interviewed by the journalist Jon Snow on television.
Hana Glasser of American magazine Slate said that, "The character of Tucker is reason enough to elevate The Thick of It over Veep...The brilliant Peter Capaldi, who delivers profanity of the highest imaginable caliber".
