The subject of this article is standing for re-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 4 July, and has not been an incumbent MP since Parliament was dissolved on 30 May. Some parts of this article may be out of date during this period. |
Jeff Smith | |
---|---|
Senior Opposition Whip | |
Assumed office December 2023 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Position Established |
Shadow Minister for Clean Power and Consumers | |
Assumed office 5 September 2023 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Seema Malhotra (Consumers) |
Shadow Minister for Sport,Tourism,Heritage and Music | |
In office 4 December 2021 –5 September 2023 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Alison McGovern (Sport) Alex Sobel (Tourism &Heritage) |
Succeeded by | Lilian Greenwood (Heritage) Barbara Keeley (Music and Tourism) Stephanie Peacock (Sport) |
Shadow Minister for Local Government | |
In office 14 May 2021 –4 December 2021 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Kate Hollern |
Succeeded by | Mike Amesbury |
Shadow Lord Commissioner of HM Household | |
In office 18 September 2015 –14 May 2021 | |
Leader | Jeremy Corbyn Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Position Established |
Member of Parliament for Manchester Withington | |
Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
Preceded by | John Leech |
Majority | 27,905 (52.7%) |
Member of Manchester City Council for Old Moat | |
In office 1997–2015 | |
Succeeded by | Garry Bridges |
Personal details | |
Born | Manchester,United Kingdom | 26 January 1963
Political party | Labour |
Alma mater | University of Manchester |
Website | Official website |
Jeff Smith (born 26 January 1963) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Withington since 2015,and as Senior Whip in the Opposition Whips Office. [1] A former Manchester City Councillor,he served as an opposition whip in Parliament from 2015 to 2021,as Shadow Minister for Local Government from May to 4 December 2021;as Shadow Minister for Sport,Tourism,Heritage and Music from December 2021 –August 2023,and as Shadow Minister for Clean Power and Consumers from September –December 2023.
Smith was a pupil at the private Manchester Grammar School, [2] and graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in Politics and Economics in 1984. [3] He was a member of the University of Manchester Students' Union Executive from 1984 to 1985 as the Entertainments Officer.
A former councillor for Old Moat ward on Manchester City Council from 1997,he served as the Executive Member for Finance on the council and was a governor at Parrs Wood High School. [4] [5]
Smith was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Manchester Withington constituency in June 2013, [6] ahead of Angela Rayner and fellow Manchester councillor Andrew Simcock. [7] At the general election in May 2015,Smith was elected,defeating the incumbent MP,Liberal Democrat John Leech,with a majority of 14,873. [8]
Smith served as a senior Opposition whip from 2015 to 2021. [9] He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election. [10]
In July 2015,Jeff Smith voted to prevent the government's Welfare Bill going through on the second reading,and voted against it at the third reading. [11]
Smith campaigned to remain in the European Union. [12] In January 2017,he voted against triggering Article 50. [13] On 14 March 2019,Smith voted to reject the then prime minister Theresa May's Brexit deal and a no-deal Brexit. [14]
Smith was re-elected at the 2017 snap general election,securing 71.7% of the vote and more than doubling his majority over John Leech,re-contesting the seat,to 29,875 (55.8%). [15]
Smith is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health, [16] and sits on the advisory board of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. [17] He is Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group. [18]
Smith co-founded the Labour Campaign for Drug Policy Reform with Thangam Debbonaire, [19] and is Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Policy Reform. [20] On 20 April 2020,Smith appeared in a virtual online 4/20 event hosted by Voltfacehub,where he spoke in favour of the decriminalisation and regulation of the drug cannabis. [21]
Smith was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Local Government in the May 2021 Labour reshuffle,filling the position made vacant following Kate Hollern's resignation. [22] Smith was appointed Shadow Minister for Sport,Tourism,Heritage and Music on 4 December in the Shadow Culture department. In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle,he was appointed Shadow Minister for Clean Power and Consumers on 5 September 2023. [23]
Smith is a parliamentary supporter of both Labour Friends of Israel [24] and Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East. [25]
Smith's mother was born in Dublin. His grandfather,Jack McDermott,was an Irish trade unionist who brought his family to Manchester when he was elected general secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers. [26]
Smith's Jewish great-grandmother,Rosa Simonson,came to Manchester in the 1880s to escape antisemitic persecution in what is now Poland. [27]
Before being elected,Smith was an event manager and DJ, [28] and has performed regularly at V Festival and club nights Poptastic in Manchester and Star in Leeds. [29]
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