Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury
Christopher Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury, PC (born 24 July 1951) is a British politician and a peer; a former Member of Parliament (MP) and Cabinet Minister; and former chairman of the Environment Agency. Although he is currently not aligned to any party, for the majority of his career he was a Labour Party member. He was one of the first openly gay British MPs, coming out in 1984, and in 2005, the first MP to acknowledge that he is HIV positive.[2][3]
Early life
Chris Smith was born in Barnet, London, and educated at George Watson's College in Edinburgh and Pembroke College, Cambridge. At the latter he gained a first class honours degree in English, and a PhD with a thesis on Coleridge and Wordsworth.[4] He attended Harvard University as a Kennedy Scholar,[4] and was president of the Cambridge Union Society.
Member of Parliament
He worked for a housing charity and became a councillor in the London Borough of Islington. He came third at Epsom and Ewell in 1979 general election before narrowly winning the seat of Islington South & Finsbury at the 1983 general election, defeating George Cunningham, who had ultimately defected to the Social Democrats from Labour. Cunningham stood again at the 1987 General election when Smith retained the seat.[5]
In 1984, he became Britain's first gay MP to choose to "come out". There had been several gay MPs before this whose homosexuality had been common knowledge in some circles, including their constituents in some cases, but they had not been completely open about it. (Maureen Colquhoun had earlier been effectively "outed" by press revelations, and had lost her seat at the 1979 general election.) During a rally in Rugby, Warwickshire, against a possible ban on gay employees by the town council, Smith began his speech: "Good afternoon, I'm Chris Smith, I'm the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury and I'm gay."[6] He immediately received a standing ovation from most of the audience.
He became an opposition whip in 1986, a shadow Treasury minister from 1987 to 1992, and shadowed the environment, heritage, pensions and health portfolios between 1992 and 1997.
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In 1997, he was appointed to Tony Blair's Cabinet as the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. As a Minister known to have a close connection with the arts scene in Britain, his time at DCMS is generally regarded as a success as many projects funded through the National Lottery came to fruition. There were controversies, such as his approval during his first week as minister of the appointment of Mary Allen to the Royal Opera House. In this case, a Select Committee report later found that he had exceeded his authority and had improperly failed to seek advice from his Permanent Secretary.
In 2000, he managed to secure a tax rebate that enabled many museums to give free admission. He held this position throughout the Labour government's first term, but was sacked and returned to the back benches after the 2001 election, being replaced by Tessa Jowell. Tony Blair later hinted at his regret at losing Smith's services, particularly his strong relationship with the arts world..
Appointment to the House of Lords
After over 20 years in Parliament, Smith stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election. It was announced on 30 April 2005 that he was to be created a life peer, and the title was gazetted on 22 June 2005 as Baron Smith of Finsbury, of Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington.[7][8]
Retirement from politics
Smith was appointed Chair of the London Cultural Consortium (the successor body to the Cultural Strategy Group) by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, and served from 2005 to 2008.
He was one of the founding directors of the Clore Leadership Programme, an initiative aimed at helping to train and develop new leaders of Britain's cultural sector.[9][10] He is also currently Chairman of the Wordsworth Trust.[11] In November 2006, he was appointed as Chairman of The Advertising Standards Authority. Smith is a keen mountaineer and was the first MP to climb all the 3,000 ft "Munros" in Scotland;[12] in April 2004, he was elected as the Ramblers' Association President.[13] He is a patron of London-based HIV charity, The Food Chain.. He is also Patron of the HIV support charity, The National Long-Term Survivors Group (NLTSG).
On 30 January 2005, Smith revealed to The Sunday Times that he has HIV and was first diagnosed in 1987.[3] He stated that he had decided to go public following Nelson Mandela's announcement of his son's death from AIDS.[2]
On 8 May 2008, he was announced as the new Chairman of the Environment Agency and took up the new role in mid July.[14] In an interview with The Independent in August that year, he said Britain faced hard choices over which coasts to defend and which to leave to the sea because it would not be possible to save all coastal homes from sea erosion.[15] Lord Smith was re-appointed as Chair of the Environment Agency for a further three years by Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman in 2011. On re-appointment he received £100,813 pro rata for 2011–12, based on working three days a week.[16] Lord Smith continued in this role until 13 July 2014.
In December 2014, it was announced that Lord Smith would become the next Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge in 2015, succeeding Sir Richard Dearlove. He accepted an invitation to become the Chairman of Trustees of the Cambridge Union Society in 2015.
Personal life
In 2005, Smith entered a civil partnership with Dorian Jabri, his partner since 1987. The couple separated amicably in 2012.[17]
Styles of address
- 1951-1983: Mr Christopher Robert Smith
- 1983-1997: Mr Christopher Robert Smith MP
- 1997-2005: The Right Honourable Christopher Robert Smith MP
- 2005: The Right Honourable Christopher Robert Smith
- 2005-: The Right Honourable The Lord Smith of Finsbury PC
References
- ↑ "Lord Smith of Finsbury". Parliament of the United Kingdom.
- 1 2 "Former minister is HIV positive". BBC News Online. 30 January 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- 1 2 Why this is the time to break my HIV silence, Chris Smith writing in The Sunday Times, 30 January 2005
- 1 2 , Environment Agency. "Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury, Chairman." Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- ↑ According to Election Demon, in 1983 Smith got 13 460 votes to Cunningham's 13 097, in 1987 the respective totals were 16 511 to 15 706
- ↑ Campbell, Dennis (30 January 2005). "The pioneer who changed gay lives". The Observer. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 57685. p. 8317. 27 June 2005.
- ↑ Archived 9 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "The Clore Leadership Programme". Cloreleadership.org. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
- ↑ "GOV.UK". Environment Agency. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
- ↑ "Trustees". Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- ↑ Scottish Mountaineering Club
- ↑ Pyke, Nicholas; Lacey, Hester (25 April 2004). "Rambling Tsar comes to the aid of Madonna". The Independent on Sunday (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- ↑ Gerrard, Neil (9 May 2008). "Chris Smith becomes new Environment Agency chairman". Contract Journal. Reed Business Information Limited. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- ↑ Morris, Nigel (18 August 2008). "Stark warning on Britain's shrinking coast". The Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 28 September 2008.
- ↑ "Re-appointments to the Environment Agency". Defra. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ↑ Kay, Richard (26 November 2012). , "Gay pioneer's heartbreak: Lord Smith splits from partner of 25 years." Mail Online. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Chris Smith
- Parliamentary Biography of Lord Smith of Finsbury
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Cunningham |
Member of Parliament for Islington South and Finsbury 1983–2005 |
Succeeded by Emily Thornberry |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Bryan Gould |
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment 1992–1994 |
Succeeded by Frank Dobson |
| Preceded by Mo Mowlam |
Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage 1994–1995 |
Succeeded by Jack Cunningham |
| Preceded by Donald Dewar |
Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security 1995–1997 |
Succeeded by Iain Duncan Smith |
| Preceded by Virginia Bottomley as Secretary of State for National Heritage |
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 1997–2001 |
Succeeded by Tessa Jowell |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Maggie Rice |
Chair of the Fabian Society 1997 – 1998 |
Succeeded by Margaret Hodge |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by John Harman |
Chair of the Environment Agency 2008–2014 |
Succeeded by Philip Dilley |
| ||||||||||||
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