| The Right Honourable The Baroness Smith of Basildon PC |
|
|---|---|
| Minister of State for Third Sector | |
| In office 8 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 |
|
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Kevin Brennan |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Member of Parliament for Basildon |
|
| In office 1 May 1997 – 6 May 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | David Amess |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Metcalfe[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 January 1959 Hackney, United Kingdom |
| Political party | Labour Co-operative |
| Spouse(s) | Nigel Smith |
| Residence | Elephant and Castle |
| Alma mater | Leicester Polytechnic |
Angela Evans Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon[2] (born 7 January 1959) is a British Labour Co-operative politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon from 1997 till she was defeated in 2010. She was a Minister of State in the Cabinet Office, incorporating the offices of Minister for the Third Sector and Minister for Social Exclusion.[3] She made a life peer in 2010.
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She attended Pitsea Junior School and Chalvedon Comprehensive (now called Chalvedon School) on Wickford Avenue in Basildon. At Leicester Polytechnic, she studied Public Administration, gaining a BA. In 1978, she married Nigel Smith, who has written a number of books for key stage 3 and key stage 4 history.
From 1982–83, Smith was a trainee accountant with the London Borough of Newham. She then worked for the League Against Cruel Sports from 1983–95, becoming the head of Political and Public Relations. She was a political researcher from 1995–97.
Smith was a county councillor from 1989 and member of the fire authority of the county of Essex.[4]
Smith was selected to stand for election for Labour through an all-women shortlist.[5] This method of selection was subsequently declared illegal in January 1996 as it breached sex discrimination laws.[6] Despite the ruling she remained in place as the candidate for the following year's election. She was elected for the seat of Basildon at the 1997 general election, replacing the Conservative MP David Amess, who had moved to fight the neighbouring seat of Southend West.
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.
Smith was appointed a government whip in 1999, before being promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in October 2002. In 2006 she was moved to the Department for Communities and Local Government, with responsibility for the fire service.
On 28 June 2007, she was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown, entitling her to attend Cabinet meetings. She gave up this role at the reshuffle of June 2009, to enter the government at the Cabinet Office at Minister of State level.
An active supporter of animal welfare, Smith is a patron of the Captive Animals Protection Society, a charity campaigning for an end to the use of animals in circuses, zoos and the exotic pet trade.[7]
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 Smith making a total of £1,429 which Smith later returned.[8]
Smith was created life peer as Baroness Smith of Basildon, of Basildon in the County of Essex, on 7 July 2010, having been named in the 2010 Dissolution Honours List. She was introduced in the House of Lords the following day.[9]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by David Amess |
Member of Parliament for Basildon 1997–2010 |
Succeeded by Stephen Metcalfe |