Angela Evans Smith
Encyclopedia
Angela Evans Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon (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
.
She made a life peer in 2010.
) 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
.
. This method of selection was subsequently declared illegal in January 1996 as it breached sex discrimination laws. 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.
, a charity campaigning for an end to the use of animals in circuses, zoos and the exotic pet trade.
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.
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.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Labour Co-operative
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative describes those candidates in British elections standing on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, based on a national agreement between the two parties....
politician who was the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Basildon
Basildon (UK Parliament constituency)
Basildon was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
from 1997
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
till she was defeated in 2010. She was a Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
in the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
, incorporating the offices of Minister for the Third Sector and Minister for Social Exclusion
Social exclusion
Social exclusion is a concept used in many parts of the world to characterise contemporary forms of social disadvantage. Dr. Lynn Todman, director of the Institute on Social Exclusion at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, suggests that social exclusion refers to processes in which...
.
She made a life peer in 2010.
Early life
She attended Pitsea Junior School and Chalvedon Comprehensive (now called Chalvedon SchoolChalvedon School
Chalvedon School and 6th Form College is a Specialist Technology College in Pitsea, Essex, England.It is a comprehensive school educating pupils aged between 11 and 18 years of age.Chalvedon has over 1800 pupils on roll including 196 sixth formers....
) on Wickford
Wickford
Wickford is a town in the south of the English county of Essex, with a population of more than 32,500. Located approximately 30 miles east of London, it falls within the District of Basildon along with Basildon, Billericay, Laindon and Pitsea....
Avenue in Basildon. At Leicester Polytechnic
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...
, she studied Public Administration, gaining a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
. 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
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
with the London Borough of Newham
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...
. She then worked for the League Against Cruel Sports
League Against Cruel Sports
The League Against Cruel Sports are an animal welfare organisation that campaigns against all blood sports including bull fighting, fox hunting and hare coursing. It also campaigns to ban the manufacture, sale and use of snares, for the regulation of greyhound racing and for an end to commercial...
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
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
.
Parliamentary career
Smith was selected to stand for election for Labour through an all-women shortlistAll-women shortlists
The use of all-women shortlists is the political practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom by allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political party. Though the practice is available to all parties, only...
. This method of selection was subsequently declared illegal in January 1996 as it breached sex discrimination laws. Despite the ruling she remained in place as the candidate for the following year's election. She was elected for the seat of Basildon
Basildon
Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford...
at the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, replacing the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP David Amess
David Amess
David Anthony Andrew Amess is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1983, first for Basildon, and since 1997 for Southend West.-Early life:...
, who had moved to fight the neighbouring seat of Southend West
Southend West (UK Parliament constituency)
Southend West is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
.
In December 1997 Smith introduced the private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
to minimise waste generation, and was successful in negotiating its passage through Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
to become the Waste Minimisation Act 1998.
Smith was appointed a government whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in 1999, before being promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in October 2002. In 2006 she was moved to the Department for Communities and Local Government, with responsibility for the fire service
Fire service in the United Kingdom
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
.
On 28 June 2007, she was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the new Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, entitling her to attend Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
meetings. She gave up this role at the reshuffle of June 2009, to enter the government at the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
at Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
level.
Animal protection
An active supporter of animal welfare, Smith is a patron of the Captive Animals Protection SocietyCaptive Animals Protection Society
The Captive Animals' Protection Society is a UK charity campaigning to end the use of animals in entertainment, including circuses, zoos, the exotic pet trade and the audio-visual industry.-History:...
, a charity campaigning for an end to the use of animals in circuses, zoos and the exotic pet trade.
Expenses
In June 2009 Smith had to repay over £1,000 for wrongly claimed council taxCouncil tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
expenses and service charges for her second property in Elephant and Castle
Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle is a major road intersection in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is also used as a name for the surrounding area....
. A review by Sir Thomas Legg uncovered further monies over-claimed by Smith making a total of £1,429 which Smith later returned.
Baroness
Smith was created life peerLife peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
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.