Thomas J. Welby is a politician who is a member of Galway County Council since 2004.
Welby served as Mayor of County Galway from 2012 to 2013. He was first elected as a county councillor on 11 June 2004, a year to the day after his father, Tom Welby, died. Welby Sn. served as a Fianna Fáil county councillor for seventeen years, rising to the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach/Vice-Chairperson of the council.
Prior to 2003, Welby was a member of Fianna Fáil.
Welby joined the Progressive Democrats in 2003.
Welby resigned from the Progressive Democrats in October 2008 amid controversy over the removal of automatic medical-card entitlement for over-70s. He informed party leader Ciaran Cannon of his decision alongside Galway City Councillor Terry O'Flaherty. Welby also called for the immediate resignation of Health Minister Mary Harney. His resignation occurred shortly before a planned announcement by Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Harney regarding changes to the over-70s medical-card policy.
Welby ran as an independent in the 2009 local elections, topping the poll in the Connemara electoral area. He repeated his poll-topping performance in the same electoral area, now renamed the Connemara Municipal District in the 2014 local elections.
In January 2026, Welby announced his intention to contest the 2026 Galway West by-election.
In July 2008, Welby was fined â¬300 plus â¬1,750 in expenses for failing to display prices on grocery products in his Gala store in Oughterard. The fine was part of a wider publication by the National Consumer Agency highlighting traders who breached consumer legislation. The NCA stated that enforcement actions would be taken against those failing to comply with consumer law.