Jump to content

Nick Smith (British politician): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
mNo edit summary
mNo edit summary
Line 25: Line 25:


{{For|other people of the same name|Nick Smith}}
{{For|other people of the same name|Nick Smith}}
'''Nicholas Desmond John Smith''' (born 1963), known as '''Nick Smith''', is a [[British people|British]] [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[politician]], [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)|Blaenau Gwent]] since the [[UK general election, 2010|May 2010 election]]. From 1998 to 2005 he was a [[councillor]] for the [[London Borough of Camden]].
'''Nicholas Desmond John Smith''' (born 1960), known as '''Nick Smith''', is a [[British people|British]] [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[politician]], [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)|Blaenau Gwent]] since the [[UK general election, 2010|May 2010 election]]. From 1998 to 2005 he was a [[councillor]] for the [[London Borough of Camden]].


==Early life==
==Early life==

Revision as of 10:27, 22 May 2010

Nick Smith
Member of Parliament
for Blaenau Gwent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byDai Davies
Personal details
Born1960
Tredegar, Wales
Political partyLabour
SpouseDivorced
ChildrenTwo daughters

Nicholas Desmond John Smith (born 1960), known as Nick Smith, is a British Labour politician, Member of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent since the May 2010 election. From 1998 to 2005 he was a councillor for the London Borough of Camden.

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.[1][2]

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.[3] 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.[4] 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 Council and was re-elected in 2002. In 2003, he was appointed as the Council's Cabinet member for Education.[5] a post which he controversially continued to hold for some months during 2005 as Secretary General of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, in Brussels, the Camden New Journal dubbing him 'Two jobs Nick'. From there, he became Campaigns Manager for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,[3] 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.[6]

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.[7] 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".[8] 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."[9] He also said he had promised the late Michael Foot he would return Blaenau Gwent to Labour.[10]

Divorced, Smith has two daughters and lives in Nantyglo[1] and Camden Town[11]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent
2010
Succeeded by
Incumbent

References

  1. ^ a b About me at nick-smith.net
  2. ^ Nick Smith at labour.org.uk
  3. ^ a b Nick Smith at telegraph.co.uk
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference janssen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Nick Smith at parliament.uk/biographies
  6. ^ Nick Smith at waleshome.org
  7. ^ Election result 2010 for Blaenau Gwent (BBC)
  8. ^ Ian Caleb, Let’s stop the mud-slinging, says Labour candidate, dated April 29 2010 at nline.co.uk
  9. ^ Labour delight over Blaenau Gwent dated 7 May 2010 at news.bbc.co.uk
  10. ^ Alison Sanders, ELECTION: Blaenau Gwent returns to Labour fold dated 7th May 2010 at southwalesargus.co.uk
  11. ^ NICHOLAS DESMOND JOHN SMITH at checksure.biz, accessed 21 May 2010

See also