Angela Evans Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon (born 7 January 1959), is a British politician andlife peer serving asLeader of the House of Lords andLord Keeper of the Privy Seal since 2024.[1] A member of theLabour and Co-operative parties, she was theMember of Parliament (MP) forBasildon from 1997 to 2010.
Smith served in government as an AssistantWhip from 2001 to 2002 and aParliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 2002 to 2007. She becameParliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister,Gordon Brown, in 2007 and served until her appointment asMinister of State for the Third Sector in 2009.
Smith lost her seat to theConservatives at the2010 general election, contesting the reformedSouth Basildon and East Thurrock constituency. She was appointed to theHouse of Lords shortly after her defeat, where she became Shadow DeputyChief Whip in 2012 and Shadow Leader in 2015.
Smith was born on 7 January 1959 inLondon, England.[2] She attended Pitsea Junior School and Chalvedon Comprehensive (laterChalvedon School) inBasildon, before studying Public Administration atLeicester Polytechnic, where she graduated with aBA degree. In 1978, she married Nigel Smith, who has written a number of history books forKey Stage 3 andKey Stage 4.
From 1982 to 1983, Smith was a trainee accountant with theLondon Borough of Newham. She then worked for theLeague Against Cruel Sports from 1983 to 1995, becoming the head of Political and Public Relations. She was apolitical researcher from 1995 to 1997.
Smith was a member ofEssex County Council from 1989 and a member of the Fire Authority for the County ofEssex.[3]
Having previously contestedSouthend West in the1987 general election, Smith was selected to stand for election for Labour in Basildon nearly a decade later in December 1995 through anall-women shortlist.[4] She was elected for Basildon at the1997 general election, replacing theConservativeMPDavid 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 thePrivate member's bill to minimise waste generation, and was successful in negotiating its passage throughParliament to become the Waste Minimisation Act 1998.[5]
Smith was appointed aGovernment Whip in 2001, before being promoted toParliamentary under-secretary of state forNorthern Ireland in October 2002. In 2006, she was moved to theDepartment for Communities and Local Government, with responsibility forFire Services.
On 28 June 2007, Smith was appointed as aParliamentary private secretary to the new prime ministerGordon Brown, entitling her to attendCabinet. She gave up this role at the reshuffle of June 2009, to enter Government in theCabinet Office asMinister of State for the Third Sector,[6] when she was sworn of thePrivy Council.[7]
The old Basildon seat was abolished in the2010 general election, and she stood for and lost the contest to the newSouth Basildon and East Thurrock constituency, which predominantly covered much of the area she represented in Parliament, to the Conservative candidateStephen Metcalfe. Adverse boundary changes contributed to her defeat, as some of her voters were moved into the newBasildon 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 yourLordships' House and not in theother place".[8]
Expenses
In June 2009 Smith had to repay over £1,000 for wrongly claimedCouncil Tax expenses and service charges for her second property inElephant and Castle. A review bySir Thomas Legg uncovered further monies over-claimed by Baroness Smith making a total of £1,429 which she later returned.[9]
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Smith was created aLife Peer asBaroness Smith of Basildon, ofBasildon in theCounty of Essex, on 7 July 2010,[10] following the2010 Dissolution Honours List. She was introduced into theHouse of Lords the next day.[11]
In the Lords, Smith was Labour Spokeswoman forEnergy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2013,Northern Ireland from 2011 to 2012 and theHome Office from 2012 to 2015. She also served as Opposition DeputyWhip 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 joinedHarriet Harman'sShadow Cabinet.[12]
In June 2016, Smith and Lords chief whipLord Bassam of Brighton stated they would boycottshadow cabinet meetings whileJeremy Corbyn remained leader of the Labour Party, but returned to attending shadow cabinet four months later.[13][14]
In September 2017, she was named at Number 71 in 'The 100 Most Influential People on the Left' by commentatorIain Dale.[15]
In April 2020, Corbyn resigned and asthe leadership election ensued which was later won by Keir Starmer, Smith remained asShadow Leader of the House of Lords.
In September 2021, she made comments regarding Corbyn and the Labour Party's conference inBrighton. 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 toMomentum, which had supported his leadership.[16]
Smith strongly advocated for reforming theHouse of Lords, aligning with Labour's broader constitutional review led by former prime ministerGordon 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]
In October 2002, Smith was selected by theSecretary of State for Northern Ireland,John Reid, to serve in adirect ruleExecutive following the suspension of theNorthern Ireland Assembly.
Smith considered introducing domestic water charges to fundNorthern Ireland Water in June 2003 to take effect in April 2006.[18]
In August 2003, Smith came under pressure to overturn the decision by planners to reject a proposal forStrangford Lough's first yachtmarina.[19]
Smith refusedDungannon Coursing Club a licence to nethares for their annual hare coursing meeting in October 2003, despite evidence of a scientific and conservation nature that support their application.[20]
In November 2004, Smith paid tribute to the developer and architects of a tiny lane of four houses inDonaghadee which beat hundreds of entries from across the UK to win an elite Government award for housing design.[21]
In February 2004, Smith metAlliance Party leaderDavid Ford to discuss opposition to plans for anasbestos handling station in Newpark,County Antrim.[22]
North Down MPLady Hermon called on Smith to clean up aGroomsport beach beforeEaster in March 2005.[23]
Smith gave the green light for the release of the £8 million of government money to theIrish Football Association in April 2004.[24]
In November 2004, Smith said that the creative industries make a "significant contribution" to theeconomy of Northern Ireland.[25]
In January 2005, Smith announced she would introduce legislation to endracism in Ulster football after twoLarne players were targeted by terrace thugs in front of stewards patrolling the ground.[26]
The decade-long running Ulster 'baby wars' controversy was brought to a close in June 2003 after Smith decided a new multi-million pound regional maternity hospital should be built at theRoyal Victoria Hospital. Both the Royal and theBelfast City Hospital Trust had fought over becoming the location for the unit since the early 1990s.[27]
In July 2003, Smith spoke of her "horror" over injuries suffered by an adopted child who died three years earlier. She said she would be carefully considering a report which showed the 13-month-old child suffered 16 fractures to his ribs and torso prior to his death.[28]
Health chiefs began a major campaign to tackleviolence in homes across Northern Ireland in October 2003. Smith said the issue had to be a priority and placed on the Government's Agenda for Change.[29]
In June 2004, Smith condemned violence at theMater Infirmorum Hospital inBelfast following anOrange Orderparade.[30]
In September 2004, Smith warned that alack of exercise and a poor diet has led to thousands of years of life being lost in Northern Ireland as the deadline approached for the end of theDepartment of Health's consultation on a new Physical Activity Strategy and Action Plan.[31]
Smith established aHyponatraemia Inquiry in 2004.[32]
In August 2005, East Surrey Holdings called on Smith to take urgent action to prevent regulatory interference scuppering a stalled £453 milliontakeover of East Surrey, parent company ofPhoenix Natural Gas.[33]
Smith told a conference in Belfast that the creative industries provide 9,000 jobs. She said that "I believe that creativity is central to all aspects of work..."[34]
Smith met a delegation fromLoughbrickland Controlled Primary School to discuss the school's future in July 2005. Local MPDavid Simpson was "fighting" for the school to be retained.[35]
In October 2005, Smith denied misleading the public by misquoting a quotation fromNational StatisticianLen Cook when responding to a letter from agrammar school principal which criticised the factual information used by civil servants in theDepartment of Education.[36]
Smith was criticised by theDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP) for supporting the retention ofacademic selection for schools in England in a vote on 17 March 2006, while insisting it is scrapped in Northern Ireland.[37]
Following theLabour Party's landslide victory in the2024 general election, Baroness Basildon was appointed asLeader of the House of Lords andLord Keeper of the Privy Seal byPrime MinisterKeir Starmer on 5 July.[38]
An active supporter of animal welfare, Smith is a patron ofFreedom for Animals, a charity campaigning for an end to the use of animals in circuses, zoos and the exotic pet trade.[39]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBasildon 1997–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Labour Party in the House of Lords 2015–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Leader of the House of Lords 2015–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the House of Lords 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Lord Privy Seal 2024–present | ||
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded byasLady Chief Justice of England and Wales | Ladies asLord Keeper of the Privy Seal | Followed by |
| Cabinet members | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Also attending meetings | ||
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