Jacqui Smith
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| The Right Honourable Jacqui Smith MP | |
| Image:Replace this image female.svg Home Secretary Jacqui Smith | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 28 June 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | John Reid |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
| In office 5 May 2006 – 28 June 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Hilary Armstrong |
| Succeeded by | Geoff Hoon |
Member of Parliament
for Redditch | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 | |
| Preceded by | constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
| Majority | 2,716 (6.7%) |
| Born | 3 November 1962 Malvern, Worcestershire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | Hertford College, Oxford |
Jacqueline Jill Smith (born 3 November 1962) is a British politician who has been Home Secretary since 28 June 2007 and is the current Member of Parliament for Redditch, since 1997. She was made a Member of the Privy Council in 2003.
Smith is the first female Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, and only the third woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State — after Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister) and Margaret Beckett (Foreign Secretary).
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
Born in Malvern, Worcestershire, Smith attended Dyson Perrins High School in Malvern. Her parents were teachers. Her local MP there, Conservative backbencher Sir Michael Spicer, recalled in Parliament in 2003 how he had first met her when he was addressing the sixth form at The Chase School, where Smith's mother was a teacher.[1] "So great was my eloquence that she immediately rushed off and joined the Labour party."[2] Smith went on to study for a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Hertford College, Oxford. After Oxford, she did a PGCE at Worcester College of Higher Education.
From 1986 to 1988, she taught Economics at Arrow Vale High School in Redditch[3], followed by a post at Worcester Sixth Form College before becoming Head of Economics and GNVQ Co-ordinator at Haybridge High School, Hagley in 1990.
[edit] Member of Parliament
She was elected MP for Redditch at the 1997 general election.
[edit] In government
In 2003, Smith was appointed as the Government's deputy minister for women and equality, working alongside secretary of state Patricia Hewitt. In this role she published the Government's proposals for Civil Partnerships, a system designed to offer same-sex couples an opportunity to gain legal recognition for their relationship with an associated set of rights and responsibilities.
Following the 2005 general election, Smith was appointed to serve as the Minister of State for Schools in the Department for Education and Skills, replacing Stephen Twigg who had lost his seat. She agreed to fund LGBT history month.
In the 2006 reshuffle she was appointed Chief Whip.
[edit] Home Secretary
Jacqui Smith was appointed Home Secretary in Gordon Brown's first Cabinet reshuffle of 28 June 2007. Just one day into her new job bombs were found in London and a terrorist attack took place the following day.
Since her time in office the Home Secretary has revealed that she had used recreational drugs once in university, (earning her the nick-name Jaqui-Spliff) and has in late 2007 been asked to resign by a large number of Police personnel, following the row about their pay rise demand.
[edit] Personal Life
Smith married Richard J Timney (born 1963 in Ealing) in October 1987 in Malvern and has two sons (born September 1993 and June 1998).
On the 19 July 2007 she admitted to smoking cannabis a number of times in Oxford in the 1980s. She at first stated her behaviour had been wrong, and urged people not to try it especially considering the side effects and alleged strengthening of cannabis that had occurred since that time. Later on in the statement, she made a virtue of her having smoked cannabis, as having "given her the experiences to understand that she wants crime tackled". This information was made public the day after Gordon Brown appointed her head of a new government review of the UK Drugs strategy. The incident left some in the news to rename her Jacqui Spliff.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Minister visits high school, This is Worcestershire, 8 June 2001.
- ^ House of Commons Hansard, 1 April 2003, column 876: Michael Spicer on Jacqui Smith.
- ^ New Minister of State for Health, UK Transplant Bulletin, Autumn 2001
- ^ ITV evening news, 19 July 2007, "I smoked cannabis"
[edit] External links
- Jacqui Smith official site
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Jacqui Smith MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Jacqui Smith MP
- [1]
- Profile
- BBC Politics page
[edit] Video clips
[edit] Offices Held
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by (constituency created) | Member of Parliament for Redditch 1997 – present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Hilary Armstrong | Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 2006—2007 | Succeeded by Geoff Hoon |
| Government Chief Whip 2006—2007 | ||
| Preceded by John Reid | Home Secretary 2007 – present | Incumbent |
Great Offices of State of the United Kingdom | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Brown Cabinet | |
|---|---|
| Alexander | Ashton | Balls | Benn | Blears | Brown | Browne | Burnham | Darling | Denham | Hain | Harman | Hoon | Hutton | Johnson | Kelly | D. Miliband | E. Miliband | Purnell | J. Smith | Straw | Woodward In attendance: Austin | Cooper | Grocott | Hughes | Jowell | Malloch-Brown | Scotland | A. Smith | |
Home Secretaries |
|---|
Great Britain: Petty · Townshend · North · Nugent-Temple-Grenville · Townshend · Grenville · Dundas · Cavendish-Bentinck United Kingdom: Pelham · Yorke · Jenkinson · Spencer · Jenkinson · Ryder · Addington · Peel Bourne · Petty-FitzMaurice · Peel · Lamb · Ponsonby · Wellesley · Goulburn · Russell · Phipps · Graham, Bt · Grey · Walpole · Temple · Grey · Walpole · Sotheron-Estcourt · Cornewall Lewis · Grey · Walpole · Hardy · Bruce · Lowe · Cross · Harcourt · Cross · Childers · Matthews · Asquith · Ridley · Ritchie · Akers-Douglas · Gladstone · Churchill · McKenna · Simon · Samuel · Cave · Shortt · Bridgeman · Henderson · Joynson-Hicks · Clynes · Samuel · Gilmour · Simon · Hoare · Anderson · Morrison · Somervell · Ede · Fyfe · Lloyd George · Butler · Brooke · Soskice · Jenkins · Callaghan · Maudling · Carr · Jenkins · Rees · Whitelaw · Brittan · Hurd · Waddington · Baker · Clarke · Howard · Straw · Blunkett · Clarke · Reid · Smith |
fr:Jacqui Smith no:Jacqui Smith pl:Jacqui Smith fi:Jacqui Smith sv:Jacqui Smith zh:施卓琪
Categories: 1962 births | Living people | Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford | British female MPs | Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom | Labour MPs (UK) | Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies | People from Malvern | UK MPs 1997-2001 | UK MPs 2001-2005 | UK MPs 2005- | Politics of Worcestershire
