- Nick Smith (British politician)
-
For other people named Nick Smith, see Nick Smith (disambiguation).
Nick Smith MP Nick Smith Member of Parliament
for Blaenau GwentIncumbent Assumed office
6 May 2010Preceded by Dai Davies Majority 10,516 (32.5%) Personal details Born January 1960 [1]
CardiffPolitical party Labour Children Two daughters Residence Nantyglo, Blaenau Gwent Nicholas Desmond John Smith (born January 1960), known as Nick Smith, is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blaenau Gwent since the May 2010 election. From 1998 to 2005 he was a councillor in the London Borough of Camden.
Contents
Early life
Born in 1960 into a family of miners and steel workers, Smith grew up in Tredegar and was educated at its comprehensive school and Birkbeck College, University of London, where he graduated with a MSc in Economic Change.[2][3]
Career
Smith became a Labour Party organiser in Wales and later worked around the world as an International Democracy Adviser, for the Democratic Party in the United States, and for the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.[4] His first significant job for the Labour Party was as agent for Frank Dobson in Holborn and St Pancras, and he later acted as agent for Emily Thornberry in her narrow victory in Islington South at the 2005 general election.[5] From 1993 to 1998 he was an officer at the Labour Party's national headquarters, where he was responsible for Labour’s membership drive. In 1998 he was first elected as a councillor of Camden London Borough Council and was re-elected in 2002. In 2003, he was appointed as the Council's Cabinet member for Education,[6] a post which he continued to hold for some months during 2005 while serving as Secretary General of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, in Brussels. From there, he became Campaigns Manager for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,[4] and his last full-time job before his arrival in the House of Commons was as Director of Policy and Partnerships at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.[7]
Smith was selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Blaenau Gwent in 2007 and was elected as its Member of Parliament on 6 May 2010, defeating the incumbent Independent, Dai Davies.[8] Davies attacked Smith's record in Camden, calling him a product of "Blairite New Labour", while Smith had responded by calling this "personal mud-slinging" and "playing the man and not the ball".[9]
In one of the strongest showings for Labour in Wales Nick Smith won by more than 10,000 votes on a 61.94 percent turnout. [10] Voter turnout was up by 19.6 percent from the previous election in 2006.[11]
The 20.1 percentage point increase in the Labour share of the vote was higher than in any other seat in Britain. The swing from Independent to Labour was 29.2 per cent, the largest in the UK.
On his election success, Smith commented "The local population and the Blaenau Gwent Labour Party have shared values, and that's come through in this result tonight."[12] He also said he had promised Michael Foot he would return Blaenau Gwent to Labour.[13]
Member of Parliament
Blaenau Gwent is a seat with a strong Labour heritage. Aneurin Bevan, the post war Health Minister responsible for creating the National Health Service, and Michael Foot, a former leader of the Labour Party, both held the seat in the second half of the twentieth century. Smith’s campaign formed the subject of a Progress pamphlet entitled “Organising to Win” which highlighted the successful tactics he had used to win back the seat for Labour. [14]
Smith made his maiden speech in Parliament on the 8th of June 2010. He praised the cultural and political heritage of the constituency, and promised to campaign strongly on improving public health, the prospects for young people, and economic growth.[15] As a backbench member, he has led the call for the Government to respond to the collapse of care home provider Southern Cross, bringing the Minister of Health responsible for care services, Paul Burstow, to answer questions before the House, and raising the issue with David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions.[16]
On entering Parliament Smith was elected to the influential Public Accounts Committee, responsible for monitoring value for money in public spending. He has highlighted a number of instances of the Ministry of Defence wasting tax payer’s money, including changes to the requirements of the two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers that added billions of pounds to the cost of the contracts.[17]
He gained early promotion when Douglas Alexander, Shadow Foreign Secretary, appointed him as his Parliamentary Private Secretary and a junior member of Labour’s Foreign Affairs team.
Personal life
Smith has two daughters and lives in Nantyglo.[2] He previously lived in Camden Town.[18] His hobbies include hiking, watching rugby and cinema.
See also
References
- ^ Nick Smith at ukwhoswho.com
- ^ a b About me at nick-smith.net
- ^ Nick Smith at labour.org.uk
- ^ a b Nick Smith at telegraph.co.uk
- ^ Kim Janssen, Smith goes to Brussels Education boss ‘Two Jobs Nick’ set to step down in the autumn dated 10th June 2005 at camdennewjournal.co.uk
- ^ Nick Smith at parliament.uk/biographies
- ^ Nick Smith at waleshome.org
- ^ Election result 2010 for Blaenau Gwent (BBC)
- ^ Ian Caleb, Let’s stop the mud-slinging, says Labour candidate, dated April 29, 2010 at nline.co.uk
- ^ Think National Vote Local at waleshome.org
- ^ ELECTION at southwalesargus.co.uk
- ^ Labour delight over Blaenau Gwent dated 7 May 2010 at news.bbc.co.uk
- ^ Alison Sanders, ELECTION: Blaenau Gwent returns to Labour fold dated 7th May 2010 at southwalesargus.co.uk
- ^ Organising to Win at progressonline.org.uk
- ^ Nick Smith maiden speech at publications.parliament.uk
- ^ Nick Smith, End profit before people dated 21 September 2011 at waleshome.org
- ^ Nick Smith, Defence decisions are leaving us at risk in an uncertain world
- ^ NICHOLAS DESMOND JOHN SMITH at checksure.biz, accessed 21 May 2010
External links
- Nick Smith MP official constituency website
- Nick Smith on Twitter
- Nick Smith MP Welsh Labour Party profile
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
- Voting record at PublicWhip.org
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
- Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
- Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
Dai DaviesMember of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent
2010–presentIncumbent Categories:- 1960 births
- Living people
- People from Tredegar
- Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London
- Councillors in Camden
- Labour Party (UK) MPs
- UK MPs 2010–
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for Welsh constituencies
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
