Jeff Smith (British politician)

Jeff Smith

Official portrait of Jeff Smith crop 2.jpg
Member of Parliament
for Manchester Withington
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byJohn Leech
Majority29,875 (55.8%)
Personal details
Born (1963-01-26) 26 January 1963 (age 56)
Manchester, United Kingdom
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Websitejeffsmith.org.uk

Jeff Smith (born 26 January 1963) is a British Labour Party politician from Manchester. He was elected at the 2015 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Withington.[1] He had previously represented the Old Moat ward on Manchester City Council since 1997.

Early life and career

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] Smith was a member of the University of Manchester Students' Union Executive 1984-85 as Entertainments Office. He is a former Executive Member for Finance on Manchester City Council[4] and a former governor of Parrs Wood High School.[5]

He was chosen in June 2013 as the Labour candidate for Manchester Withington[6] in preference to the candidate backed by Unite the Union.[7]

Parliamentary career

At the general election in May 2015, Smith was elected MP for Manchester Withington on behalf of Labour, defeating the incumbent Liberal Democrat John Leech, with a majority of 14,873. Smith was re-elected in the 2017 snap general election, securing 71.7% of the vote and more than doubling his majority over next-placed John Leech to 29,875 (55.8%).

Smith is a whip.[8]

In July 2015, Smith was one of the 184 Labour MPs to abstain on the controversial Conservative welfare Bill.[9]

He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[10]

On 14 March 2019, Smith abstained on Amendment H - a bill to delay the UK's withdrawal from the EU and create sufficient enough time to enable a further referendum on the withdrawal to be held.[11]

He was elected Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group in 2017[12] and is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[13]

Personal life

Smith is also a part-time DJ and has performed regularly at V Festival and club nights Poptastic in Manchester and Star in Leeds.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Manchester Withington Parliamentary constituency: Election 2015". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  2. ^ Kelly, Richard (29 May 2015). "Pupil Plebiscites and Leftist Leanings: Political Participation and Manchester Grammar School, 1906–2015". Political Studies Association.
  3. ^ "SMITH, Jeffrey". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2017 (online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription or UK public library membership required)  (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)
  4. ^ "The Members of the Executive: The Executive Members in 2013 / 14". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014.
  5. ^ "The Governing Body". Manchester, UK: Parrs Wood High School. Archived from the original on 25 November 2014.
  6. ^ Wheatstone, Richard (10 June 2013). "Gloves are off as candidates set to do battle for Withington seat". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  7. ^ Crick, Michael (6 November 2013). "Unite choosing Labour's candidates: is Cameron correct?". Channel 4 News. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  8. ^ Williams, Jennifer (26 January 2017). "Labour MP Jeff Smith risks being sacked as whip after refusing to back Brexit vote". Manchester Evening News.
  9. ^ Stone, Jon (21 July 2015). "Welfare bill: These are the 184 Labour MPs who didn't vote against the Tories' cuts". The Independent.
  10. ^ Smith, Mikey; Bloom, Dan (20 July 2016). "Which MPs are nominating Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest?". Mirror. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  11. ^ "UK Withdrawal from the EU — Delay Withdrawal to Enable a Further Referendum on Withdrawal to be Held: Recent Votes". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Crispin Blunt and Joan Bakewell elected as Chair and Co-Chair of humanists in Parliament". Humanists UK. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  13. ^ "LFI Supporters in Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  14. ^ Staff writer (19 April 2010). "Corridors of Power to Wheels of Steel". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2017.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Leech
Member of Parliament
for Manchester Withington

2015–present
Incumbent

This page was last updated at 2019-11-13 12:01 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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