Harry Shaw was prime minister of the United Kingdom in 2025, when he and his government entered into negotiations with Homo Aqua. (TV: Homo Aqua) Shaw's biggest donor was Keith Spears, whose wishes he often bent to, (TV: Plastic Apocalypse) although Shaw privately considered Spears a "clown". (TV: The Witch of the Waterfall [+]Pete McTighe, The War Between the Land and the Sea series 1 (BBC One, 2025).) On entering politics, Shaw made a promise to his grandchildren to leave the country in a better state than when he was elected.
At the urging of Spears, Oscar Gunsberg and Dominique Dussolier, Shaw dismissed Kate Stewart's attempts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in favour of preparing for war with Homo Aqua. He was recruited by Spears and Gunsberg into a secret conspiracy to destroy Aquakind once and for all, referred to as "Severance". (TV: The Deep) After the Institute of Las Clemente attempted to kill Kate, Shaw gave Gunsberg his approval to have Spears killed so his links to Las Clemente would not lead to Severance's discovery, though he did so reluctantly. (TV: The Witch of the Waterfall)
When Kate confronted him about Severance, Shaw denied all knowledge of it, claiming the word "could have a thousand meanings". Afterwards, following a threat by Homo Aqua to melt polar ice caps and pollute the world with carbon unless humanity committed to reducing emissions within the next five years, Shaw authorised the use of Severance. This action, carried out by soldiers loyal to Gunsberg and Dussolier, released a virus which killed 90% of Aquakind in the water.
Triumphant, Shaw attended a diplomatic summit where Salt announced Aquakind's surrender. However, Salt also revealed that she knew the identities of those behind Severance and vowed that Aquakind would take revenge on them one day, leaving Shaw disturbed. He evacuated along with everyone else present when the Waterway shattered and flooded the room. (TV: The End of the War [+]Pete McTighe, The War Between the Land and the Sea series 1 (BBC One, 2025).)
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