[7] He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 as a Glasgow representative and re-elected in 2003 despite, in 2000 and 2002, being jailed over the non-payment of fines levied in connection with breach of the peace convictions resulting from his actions at demonstrations against the presence of the nuclear fleet at the Faslane Naval Base.

Sheridan, raised in Roman Catholic faith, attended St Monica's Primary (Pollok) and Lourdes Secondary before studying at the University of Stirling, where he received a degree in economics.

[6] From within Militant, he was the public face of a mass non-payment campaign against the Community Charge in Scotland (where it was introduced a year earlier than other parts of the UK "as an experiment").

The campaign involving the refusal to pay the tax, together with resistance to warrant sales which local councils held to try to recoup the money, was ultimately successful and Sheridan became a popular political figure.

The argument was resolved when Sheridan and his supporters won a vote at a special conference held in Bridlington in October 1991, defeating the faction around Militant founder Ted Grant who argued against abandoning the Labour Party.

Sheridan was active in implementing changes in Scottish law, including the Abolition of Poindings and Warrant Sales Act 2001, which he introduced as bills in Holyrood on 6 December 2001.

It later emerged that the party's executive committee voted unanimously to force Sheridan to resign after a 9 November meeting in which he confirmed stories printed about a then-unnamed MSP were about him,[21] and indicated he would take legal action against the paper.

[26] At an emergency meeting of the party's National Council, it was agreed the minutes should be handed over[27] — with only 60 delegates opposed — in order to secure McCombes' release the following day.

[28] The minutes included a discussion by the party's executive committee about a recent article that alleged a married MSP had visited a swingers' club in Manchester.

Some of those present at the meeting gave evidence that they had heard Sheridan acknowledge he had been "reckless" in his behaviour which had, with hindsight, been "a mistake" and that "his strategy was to deny the allegations".

[29][30] Eleven members, including four of the party's MSPs, stated they heard Sheridan admit to visiting the swingers' club at that meeting.

Rosemary Byrne MSP and two other members of the executive committee, Graham McIver and Pat Smith, gave evidence that Sheridan made no such statement.

[33] Sheridan was first arrested at the Faslane nuclear base, the location of Britain's Trident submarine fleet, for a breach of the peace offence committed during a demonstration in February 2000.

Believing nuclear weapons to be illegal under international law,[36] Sheridan made it clear at the time that he had no intention of paying the fine.

[49] Before presenting himself for arrest at Glasgow police station on 24 August 2003, Sheridan had told reporters: "Nuclear weapons are a crime against humanity and should be removed from the Clyde and from Britain.

"[8] In September 2006, Tommy Sheridan formed a new political party in Scotland named Solidarity, with himself and fellow MSP Rosemary Byrne as joint convenors.

Sheridan stood as a candidate in the 2009 European Parliament elections for No to EU – Yes to Democracy, a left-wing alter-globalisation coalition led by RMT union leader Bob Crow.

The News of the World intended to appeal against what they described as the "perverse" decision in the immediate aftermath of the trial, and a provisional date for the hearing was set for December 2007, however it was postponed until the outcome of the procurator fiscal's perjury probe.

The report said Helen Allison, who claimed in court that she saw Sheridan having sex in a Glasgow hotel, had been approached by Lynn who asked her not to give evidence.

[69] However, in an interview with the BBC a forensic speech scientist, Peter French, said: "Experts should never say conclusively they have identified a person and this kind of evidence should never solely be used to bring a criminal trial".

[70] Sheridan then suggested that MI5, someone within the SSP, Rupert Murdoch and Bill Gates had conspired to concoct the videotape to undermine his campaign for an independent socialist Scotland.

On Monday 7 August 2006, Lothian and Borders Police said they had received two complaints of perjury, one from the former Conservative MSP Brian Monteith,[72] the other alleged to be from the SSP's minutes secretary.

In December 2007, Sunday Herald columnist Iain MacWhirter said it was "hard not to conclude that the police's diligence has been inspired by Rupert Murdoch's News International.

At a June 2008 rally organised by the campaign, speakers including FBU secretary Kenny Ross, Paddy Hill, and Gerry Conlon queried the motives for the investigation, questioned the role of the police and Crown Office and verbally attacked the witnesses who had given evidence unhelpful to Sheridan in the original hearing.

In May 2012, Andy Coulson, editor of the News of the World from 2003 – 2007 and who gave evidence at Sheridan's trial,[90] was detained "on suspicion of committing perjury before the High Court in Glasgow".

According to a report in the Sunday Herald, pro-independence figures "believe Sheridan is piggy-backing on the independence campaign to gain publicity for an appeal against his conviction".

[98] Following the defeat of the Yes campaign, Sheridan called for a Scottish National Party (SNP) vote at the 2015 general election for the Westminster parliament, which he said would force a second independence referendum by 2020.

[99] He was later a headline speaker at a Hope Over Fear rally in George Square on Sunday 12 October, where he sparked controversy by asking for donations to be sent to his home address.

"[102] Tommy Sheridan had a weekly Sunday morning show on Talk 107 for 18 months, but the station did not renew his contract due to cutbacks and changes to programming that saw Mike Graham and others leave Talk107.

He received mixed reactions from the crowd upon both entry and exit, and admitted during the post-eviction interview that his primary motivation for taking part was that he "needed the money".