Smith was born on 7 January 1959 in London, England.[2] She attended Pitsea Junior School and Chalvedon Comprehensive (laterChalvedon School) in Basildon, before studying Public Administration at Leicester Polytechnic, where she graduated with a BA degree. In 1978, she married Nigel Smith, who has written a number of history books for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.
Smith was a member of Essex County Council from 1989 and a member of the Fire Authority for the County of Essex.[3]
Parliamentary career
House of Commons
Having previously contested Southend West in the 1987 general election, Smith was selected to stand for election for Labour in Basildon nearly a decade later in December 1995 through an all-women shortlist.[4] She was elected for Basildon at the 1997 general election, replacing the ConservativeMPDavid Amess, who had moved to contest the nearby safer seat of Southend West, which Smith previously fought herself, when Basildon's boundaries were slightly redrawn. Amess's hold on the seat had always been tenuous even in Tory landslides, and he knew the new boundaries all but assured his small majority would be overturned by Labour. She was re-elected comfortably in 2001 and 2005.
In December 1997, Smith introduced the Private Member's Bill to minimise waste generation, and was successful in negotiating its passage through Parliament to become the Waste Minimisation Act 1998.[5]
The old Basildon seat was abolished in the 2010 general election, and she stood for and lost the contest to the new South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency, which predominantly covered much of the area she represented in Parliament, to the Conservative candidate Stephen Metcalfe. Adverse boundary changes contributed to her defeat, as some of her voters were moved into the new Basildon and Billericay seat, whilst the new South Basildon seat took in strong Conservative wards in East Thurrock. Labour would have possibly held the old Basildon seat, and Smith herself said in a 2011 House of Lords debate: "Prior to my election to the other place in 1997, the constituency boundaries in my constituency were redrawn. For the 2010 election, the constituency boundaries were redrawn again, which may explain why I am in your Lordships' House and not in the other place".[8]
In June 2009 Smith had to repay over £1,000 for wrongly claimed Council Tax expenses and service charges for her second property in Elephant and Castle. A review by Sir Thomas Legg uncovered further monies over-claimed by Baroness Smith making a total of £1,429 which she later returned.[9]
In the Lords, Smith was Labour Spokeswoman for Energy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2013, Northern Ireland from 2011 to 2012 and the Home Office from 2012 to 2015. She also served as Opposition Deputy Whip in the House of Lords from 2012 to 2015. On 27 May 2015, Smith was elected unopposed as Labour's Leader in the Lords, and so joined Harriet Harman's Shadow Cabinet.[12]
In September 2021, she made comments regarding Corbyn and the Labour Party's conference in Brighton. She stressed that Corbyn should not attempt to disrupt Starmer's efforts to reshape the party's direction. This was in light of Corbyn's planned participation in a parallel event linked to Momentum, which had supported his leadership.[16]
Smith strongly advocated for reforming the House of Lords, aligning with Labour's broader constitutional review led by former prime minister Gordon Brown. She favoured replacing the current House with an elected chamber, acknowledging the existing system as "indefensible." However, she was pragmatic about the time and the complexities involved in immediate constitutional change. Smith emphasised that the initial years of a Labour government would likely focus on more immediate issues such as economic growth and addressing the cost of living crisis, rather than undertaking a complete overhaul of the Lords.[17]
An active supporter of animal welfare, Smith is a patron of Freedom for Animals, a charity campaigning for an end to the use of animals in circuses, zoos and the exotic pet trade.[19]
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