Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury

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For other persons named Chris Smith, see Chris Smith (disambiguation).

Christopher Robert "Chris" Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury, PC (born 24 July 1951) is a British Labour Party politician and former Member of Parliament and Cabinet minister. He was the UK's first openly gay MP, coming out in 1984 and, in 2005, the first MP to acknowledge that he is HIV positive.

[edit] Early life

Born in Barnet, Greater London; educated at George Watson's College in Edinburgh. Chris Smith attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he gained a PhD with a thesis on Coleridge and Wordsworth, and was president of the Cambridge Union Society. He worked for a housing charity and became a councillor in the London Borough of Islington before narrowly winning the seat of Islington South & Finsbury at the 1983 General election, defeating George Cunningham.

[edit] Homosexuality

In 1984 he became Britain's first openly gay MP. There had been several gay MPs before this where their homosexuality had been common knowledge in some circles, including their constituents in some cases but they had not been completely open about it. During a rally in Rugby, Warwickshire against a possible ban on gay employees by the town council, he began his speech: "Good afternoon, I'm Chris Smith, I'm Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury. I'm gay (most of the audience rose in a standing ovation at this point) and so for that matter are about a hundred other members of the House of Commons only they won't tell you openly".

[edit] Career

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. In 1997 he was appointed to Tony Blair's Cabinet as the first Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. As a Minister known to have a close connection with the UK arts scene his time at DCMS is generally regarded as a success as many projects funded through the National Lottery came to fruition. There were controversies most notably his approval during his first week as minister of the appointment of Mary Allen to the Royal Opera House in which case a Select Committee report found that he had exceeded his authority and failed in not seeking 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, replaced by the up-and-coming Tessa Jowell. Tony Blair later hinted at his regret at losing Smith's services, particularly his strong relationship with the arts world.

On 30 January 2005 Chris Smith revealed to the Sunday Times that he had HIV and was first diagnosed in 1987. He stated that he had decided to go public following Nelson Mandela's announcement of his son's death from AIDS. Private Eye, however, maintained that the genuine reason for Smith's decision to go public was taken in light of the fact that The Mail on Sunday had contacted him and told him it was preparing a story about his condition.

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. He took up a position as Director of the Clore Leadership Programme, an initiative aimed at helping to train and develop new leaders of Britain's cultural sector. He is also currently a board member of the Royal National Theatre and Chairman of the Wordsworth Trust. 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 3,000ft "Munros" in Scotland.