Alex Smith (born 2 December 1943) is a former Scottish politician who served in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

from 1989 to 1999. Smith was aligned with the

Labour left In British politics, the Labour left is the left-wing faction of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. Alongside the Labour right, it is one of the two main wings of the Labour Party. It is also one of its four main factions alongside the soft ...

, which was reportedly the reason he was not selected as the party's candidate in the

2000 Ayr by-election The 2000 Ayr by-election on 16 March 2000 was the first by-election for the Scottish Parliament that had been established the year previously. It was caused by the resignation of Ian Welsh who had been elected at the 1999 Scottish Parliament ...

Early life

Smith was educated at

Irvine Royal Academy Irvine Royal Academy is a six-year non-denominational secondary school in Kilwinning Road, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. History In 1572, King James VI provided funds to found the King's School of Irvine at Kirkgatehead. A new building was e ...

and worked as a gardener and then a textile worker. He became a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

with the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...

, and also became active in the Labour Party, chairing Cunninghame South Constituency Labour Party from 1983 until 1987, and also Irvine Trades Council.

Political career

At the

1989 European Parliament election The 1989 European Parliament election was a held on June Wednesday 15 to Sunday 18 across the 12 European Union member state in June 1989. It was the third European Parliament election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the sam ...

, Smith was elected for

South of Scotland South of Scotland may refer to: * The southern portion of Scotland ** Geography of Scotland * South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region) * South of Scotland (European Parliament constituency) * South of Scotland District (rugby uni ...

. He won the seat from

Alasdair Hutton Alasdair Henry Hutton OBE TD (born 19 May 1940) is a British writer and narrator for public events and concerts, including the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Early life Born in London in 1940, Hutton's house was hit by a bomb three month ...

, the Conservative incumbent in 1989 and held it against a challenge from him in 1994. Smith, along with eight other Labour MEPs, voted against a European Parliament resolution supporting

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's intervention during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

in 1999. Scottish political editor Murray Ritchie wrote that Smith's prospects as an MEP were effectively over, having already been sidelined because of his left-wing views and so suggested that he was "merely putting up a show of defiance before he becomes another of Labour's disappeared ones." Smith stood down as an MEP that same year. According to '' The Herald'', Smith failed to be selected as Labour's candidate in the

because he had "not embraced every chapter and verse of the Gospel according to St Tony" and therefore was not accepted by proponents of

New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...

. Smith, alongside fellow former MEP

Henry McCubbin Henry Bell McCubbin (15 July 1942 – 13 November 2023) was a Scottish politician. After a career as a film cameraman for television companies, he served one term in the European Parliament for the Labour Party. Early career McCubbin was born ...

, instead participated in the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an Scottish independence, independent Socialism, socialist Scottish Scottish republicanism, republic. The party was fou ...

's campaign launch for the by-election. Smith stated that he was still a member of the Labour Party "by the skin of isteeth", but did not expect to continue as a Labour politician following his public support for the SSP.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Alex 1943 births Living people MEPs for Scotland 1989–1994 MEPs for Scotland 1994–1999 People educated at Irvine Royal Academy Scottish Labour MEPs