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==Political career==
==Political career==
===Before parliament===
===Before parliament===
In 2002 he became a [[Special advisers (UK government)|special adviser]] for [[Paul Murphy (UK politician)|Paul Murphy]], then the [[Secretary of State for Wales]]. He later followed Murphy to the [[Northern Ireland Office]]. From 2005 to 2008, he was Head of Policy and Government relations in [[Pfizer]] Global Pharmaceuticals’ UK communications team.
In 2002 he became a [[Special advisers (UK government)|special adviser]] for [[Paul Murphy (UK politician)|Paul Murphy]], then the [[Secretary of State for Wales]]. He later followed Murphy to the [[Northern Ireland Office]]. From 2005 to 2008, he was Head of Policy and Government relations in [[Pfizer]] Global Pharmaceuticals’ UK communications team, being paid by the company around £80,000 p/a.


In 2006 (while employed by Pfizer) he fought the [[Blaenau Gwent by-elections, 2006|Blaenau Gwent by-election]] when the independent candidate [[Dai Davies (politician)|Dai Davies]] was returned to the House of Commons.
In 2006 (while employed by Pfizer) he fought the [[Blaenau Gwent by-elections, 2006|Blaenau Gwent by-election]] when the independent candidate [[Dai Davies (politician)|Dai Davies]] was returned to the House of Commons.

Revision as of 08:30, 13 July 2016

Owen Smith
MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
13 September 2015 – 27 June 2016
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byStephen Timms (Acting)
Succeeded byDebbie Abrahams
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
In office
15 May 2012 – 13 September 2015
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byPeter Hain
Succeeded byNia Griffith
Member of Parliament
for Pontypridd
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byKim Howells
Majority8,585 (22.5%)
Personal details
Born (1970-05-02) 2 May 1970 (age 54)
Morecambe, United Kingdom
Political partyLabour
SpouseLiz Smith
Alma materUniversity of Sussex

Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970)[1] is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd since 2010, succeeding Dr Kim Howells of Labour who had stood down.[2] Smith was born in Morecambe and studied History and French at the University of Sussex. Before entering politics, he worked for the BBC as a radio producer and for the the communications team of Pfizer.

Smith served as Shadow Welsh Minister under Ed Miliband and then as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under Jeremy Corbyn until resigning in June 2016.

Early life and career

Owen Smith was born in Morecambe, England, in 1970. He is the son of the Welsh historian and writer David "Dai" Smith.[3] Smith joined the Labour Party at the age of 16. Attended Barry Boys Comprehensive School in Barry, Wales. later studying History and French at the University of Sussex. He worked for the BBC as a radio producer for 10 years, working on a variety of programmes in both Wales and London, including Today for BBC Radio Four and Dragon's Eye for BBC Wales.[4]

Political career

Before parliament

In 2002 he became a special adviser for Paul Murphy, then the Secretary of State for Wales. He later followed Murphy to the Northern Ireland Office. From 2005 to 2008, he was Head of Policy and Government relations in Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals’ UK communications team, being paid by the company around £80,000 p/a.

In 2006 (while employed by Pfizer) he fought the Blaenau Gwent by-election when the independent candidate Dai Davies was returned to the House of Commons.

Member of Parliament

After winning the seat of Pontypridd in 2010, he joined the Welsh Affairs Select Committee and was appointed a shadow minister for Wales.[5]

In 2012 he was promoted to Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, after Peter Hain stepped down.

In September 2012 he described Prime Minister David Cameron's first government reshuffle as an "highly unusual and unsatisfactory state of affairs. It looks to me as though Wales has only been considered at the fag-end of David Cameron's reshuffle and when they did look at it they found they'd run out of money for a full-time junior minister at the Wales Office, having almost certainly reached the ceiling allowed under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act. It's unheard of to have a whip also acting as a minister in a department."[6]

He described Conservative plans to devolve powers over income tax to the Welsh Assembly as "a trap".[7]

Smith was named as a potential contender in the 2015 Labour leadership election to replace Ed Miliband.[8] Ultimately, nothing came of this.

On 14 September 2015, he was named as the new Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party.

On 9 January 2016, he voiced an interest in eventually standing for Labour Leadership, saying it would be an "incredible honour and privilege" to do the job.[9]

On 27 June 2016, in the mass resignations from the Labour benches following the Leave vote in the EU membership referendum, he announced he was stepping down as the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Smith resigned over concerns about the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, saying "It breaks my heart to say I cannot see how he can continue as leader."[10]

Labour Leadership challenge July 2016

See also: Labour Party (UK) leadership crisis, 2016


On 10 July 2016, Owen Smith claimed Jeremy Corbyn and his allies were prepared to see the party split.[11]

He wrote on Twitter: On July 27 I asked @jeremycorbyn 3 times if he was prepared to see our party split & worse, wanted it to. He offered no answer. In the same meeting, in response to the same question @johnmcdonnellMP shrugged his shoulders and said 'if that's what it takes'.[12]

Owen Smith will launch a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership on Wednesday. He said "John McDonnell is part of the problem we have in the Labour party.[13]

Personal life

He lives in the village of Westcott in Surrey.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Who's Who". ukwhoswho.com.
  2. ^ "Election 2010: Pontypridd". Wales Online. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  3. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18077671
  4. ^ "Former BBC Producer selected for Pontypridd". Wales Online. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Owen Smith". Parliament UK. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Reshuffle: Jenny Randerson and Stephen Crabb join Wales Office". walesonline. 5 September 2012.
  7. ^ "Wales income tax powers a 'trap', Labour MP Owen Smith claims". BBC. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  8. ^ Bush, Stephen (14 May 2015). "After Ed, who's next? The six candidates vying to lead the Labour Party". Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  9. ^ George Eaton (9 January 2016). "Exclusive: Owen Smith: I am interested in being Labour leader". New Statesman. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  10. ^ "Labour crisis: Griffith and Smith quit shadow cabinet". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  11. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-36757981
  12. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-36757981
  13. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/13/owen-smith-to-challenge-jeremy-corbyn-labour-leadership
  14. ^ "Owen SMITH". Gov.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Pontypridd
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
2012–2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
2015–2016 		Succeeded by
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