John William Patrick Smith (born 17 March 1951) is a Welsh Labour Party politician who was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

from the

1989 by-election File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

to 1992 and from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

to the 2010 general elections.

Early life

Born in Penarth, he attended Fairfield County Primary School in Penarth. Subsequent to him passing the '

Eleven Plus Exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...

' he attended Penarth County Grammar School (which later became the comprehensive Stanwell School). He served for a while in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, then worked as a carpenter and joiner for Vale Borough Council from 1971 to 1976. He became a mature student in 1976, studying at the Gwent College of Higher Education, then went to University College of Wales, Cardiff (now Cardiff University) graduating with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in 1981. He was then a university tutor until 1985. From 1985 to 1989, he was a senior lecturer in Business Studies. He became a campaign manager for Gwent Image Partnership, becoming chief executive from 1992 after he lost his seat by only 19 votes.

Parliamentary career

Having contested Vale of Glamorgan at the 1987 general election, he was first elected for the seat in a

, lost it to the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

in 1992 by a very narrow margin, and regained it in

. He was re-elected in 2001 and 2005, and served as a member of the Defence Select Committee. He spent much of his time dealing with concerns over the future of

RAF St Athan Ministry of Defence St Athan or MOD St Athan (Welsh: Maes awyr Sain Tathan), formerly known as RAF St Athan, is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales. It was the designated site for ...

. On the issue of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

, Smith opposed any form of military action, and was deeply saddened by the parliamentary vote that supported British involvement in the war. On 22 May 2009, Smith announced that he would stand down at the 2010 general election. Smith was a Member of the Defence Committee, and Chairman of the Wales

Anti-Apartheid Movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...

(WAAM)

Personal life

Smith came from a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

family, born and raised on a

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

. He married Kathleen Mulvaney (now Kathleen Smith) in 1971 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. They have two sons and a daughter, and are now Grandparents.

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: John Smith MP

TheyWorkForYou.com - John Smith MP

Vale of Glamorgan Labour

BBC Politics Profile

Wales Online
* (Mixed with the British labour leader with the same name.)

News items

RAF St Athan in March 2005

RAF St Athan in October 2004

RAF St Athan in July 2003

Cardiff Airport in December 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John 1951 births Living people Welsh Labour Party MPs UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Alumni of the University of Wales Alumni of Cardiff University People from Penarth People educated at Stanwell School Politics of the Vale of Glamorgan