Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury

The Right Honourable The Lord Smith of Finsbury PC
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In office 2 May 1997 – 8 June 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Virginia Bottomley (NH)
Succeeded by	Tessa Jowell
Member of Parliament for Islington South and Finsbury
In office 9 June 1983 – 5 May 2005
Preceded by	George Cunningham
Succeeded by	Emily Thornberry
Personal details
Born	24 July 1951 (1951-07-24) (age 60) Barnet, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Cambridge Harvard University

Christopher "Chris" Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury PC (born 24 July 1951) is a British Labour Party politician, and a former Member of Parliament (MP) and Cabinet Minister. He was the first openly gay British MP, coming out in 1984 and, in 2005, the first MP to acknowledge that he is HIV positive.^[1][2]

Early life

Chris Smith was born in Barnet, England and educated at George Watson's College in Edinburgh and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he gained a first class honours degree in English and a PhD with a thesis on Coleridge and Wordsworth. He also attended Harvard University as a Kennedy Scholar and was president of the Cambridge Union Society.

Member of Parliament

He worked for a housing charity and became a councillor in the London Borough of Islington before narrowly winning the seat of Islington South & Finsbury at the 1983 General election, defeating George Cunningham. Cunningham stood against him a second time at the 1987 General election when Smith again defeated him.^[3]

In 1984 he became Britain's first openly gay MP. There had been several gay MPs before this whose homosexuality had been common knowledge in some circles, including their constituents in some cases but they had not been completely open about it. During a rally in Rugby, Warwickshire against a possible ban on gay employees by the town council, he began his speech: "Good afternoon, I'm Chris Smith, I'm the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury and I'm gay."^[4]

He became an opposition whip in 1986, a shadow Treasury minister from 1987 to 1992, and shadowed the environment, heritage, pensions and health portfolios between 1992 and 1997.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

In 1997 he was appointed to Tony Blair's Cabinet as the first Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. As a Minister known to have a close connection with the arts scene in Britain his time at DCMS is generally regarded as a success as many projects funded through the National Lottery came to fruition. There were controversies most notably his approval during his first week as minister of the appointment of Mary Allen to the Royal Opera House in which case a Select Committee report found that he had exceeded his authority and failed in not seeking advice from his Permanent Secretary. In 2000 he managed to secure a tax rebate that enabled many museums to give free admission. He held this position throughout the Labour government's first term, but was sacked and returned to the back benches after the 2001 election, replaced by the up-and-coming Tessa Jowell. Tony Blair later hinted at his regret at losing Smith's services, particularly his strong relationship with the arts world.^{[citation needed]}.

Appointment to the House of Lords

After over 20 years in Parliament, Smith stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election. It was announced on 30 April 2005 that he was to be created a life peer, and the title was gazetted on 22 June 2005 as Baron Smith of Finsbury, in the London Borough of Islington.^[5]

Retirement from politics

Smith was appointed Chair of the London Cultural Consortium (the successor body to the Cultural Strategy Group) by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, and served from 2005 to 2008.

He was one of the founding directors of the Clore Leadership Programme, an initiative aimed at helping to train and develop new leaders of Britain's cultural sector.^[6][7] He is also currently a board member of the Royal National Theatre and Chairman of the Wordsworth Trust.^{[citation needed]} In November 2006, he was appointed as Chairman of The Advertising Standards Authority.^{[citation needed]} Smith is a keen mountaineer and was the first MP to climb all the 3,000 ft "Munros" in Scotland;^[8] in April 2004 he was elected as the Ramblers' Association President.^[9] He is a patron of London-based HIV charity, The Food Chain.^{[citation needed]}

On 30 January 2005, Smith revealed to the Sunday Times that he had HIV and was first diagnosed in 1987.^[2] He stated that he had decided to go public following Nelson Mandela's announcement of his son's death from AIDS.^[1]

On 8 May 2008, he was announced as the new Chairman of the Environment Agency and took up the new role in mid July.^[10] In an interview with The Independent in August that year, he said Britain faced hard choices over which coasts to defend and which to leave to the sea because it would not be possible to save all coastal homes from sea erosion.^[11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Former minister is HIV positive". BBC News Online. 30 January 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4219501.stm. Retrieved 2008-09-28. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Why this is the time to break my HIV silence, Chris Smith writing in The Sunday Times, 30 January 2005
3. ^ According to Election Demon, in 1983 Smith got 13 460 votes to Cunningham's 13 097, in 1987 the respective totals were 16 511 to 15 706
4. ^ Campbell, Dennis (30 January 2005). "The pioneer who changed gay lives". The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/jan/30/uk.aids. Retrieved 2008-09-28. 
5. ^ http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/25312
6. ^ http://www.cloreleadership.org/library.php
7. ^ http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/aboutus/organisation/38747.aspx
8. ^ Scottish Mountaineering Club
9. ^ Pyke, Nicholas; Lacey, Hester (25 April 2004). "Rambling Tsar comes to the aid of Madonna". The Independent on Sunday (Independent News & Media). http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/rambling-tsar-comes-to-the-aid-of-madonna-561168.html. Retrieved 28 September 2008. 
10. ^ Gerrard, Neil (9 May 2008). "Chris Smith becomes new Environment Agency chairman". Contract Journal. Reed Business Information Limited. http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/2008/05/08/59064/chris-smith-becomes-new-environment-agency-chairman.html. Retrieved 28 September 2008. 
11. ^ Morris, Nigel (18 August 2008). "Stark warning on Britain's shrinking coast". The Independent (Independent News & Media). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/stark-warning-on-britains-shrinking-coast-900638.html?startindex=40. Retrieved 28 September 2008. 

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Chris Smith
• Parliamentary Biography of Lord Smith of Finsbury

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George Cunningham	Member of Parliament for Islington South and Finsbury 1983–2005	Succeeded by Emily Thornberry
Political offices
Preceded by Harriet Harman	Shadow Secretary of State for Health 1997	Succeeded by Stephen Dorrell
Preceded by Virginia Bottomley as Secretary of State for National Heritage	Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 1997–2001	Succeeded by Tessa Jowell
Government offices
Preceded by John Harman	Chairman of the Environment Agency 2008–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Smith, Christopher Robert, Baron Smith of Finsbury
Alternative names	Smith, Chris
Short description	British life peer and former Cabinet minister (1997–2001)
Date of birth	24 July 1951
Place of birth	Barnet, London, United Kingdom
Date of death
Place of death