Nick Smith (British politician)
Nick Smith | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Dai Davies |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1963 Tredegar, Wales |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Divorced |
| Children | Two daughters |
Nick Smith (born 1963) 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 into a family of miners and steel workers, Smith grew up in Tredegar and attended its comprehensive school. He went on to Birkbeck College, University of London, where he graduated 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 after moving to Brussels to work as Secretary General of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, the Camden New Journal dubbing him 'Two Jobs Nick'.[4] 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]
References
- ^ a b About me at nick-smith.net
- ^ Nick Smith at labour.org.uk
- ^ a b Nick Smith at telegraph.co.uk
- ^ a b 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
- ^ 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
See also
External links
- nick-smith.net official site
- Nick Smith on Twitter