Jacqui Smith Facts for Kids

Junior ministerial offices 1999‍–‍2006

Minister of State for Schools and Learners
In office 6 May 2005 – 5 May 2006
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Stephen Twigg
Succeeded by	Jim Knight
Minister of State for Industry and the Regions
In office 13 June 2003 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Brian Wilson
Succeeded by	Alun Michael
Deputy Minister for Women
In office 13 June 2003 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Barbara Roche
Succeeded by	Meg Munn
Minister of State for Health Services
In office 11 June 2001 – 13 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	John Denham
Succeeded by	Rosie Winterton
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment
In office 29 July 1999 – 10 June 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Charles Clarke
Succeeded by	John Healey

Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal

Incumbent

Assumed office
18 July 2024
Life Peerage

Member of Parliament
for Redditch

In office
1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010

Preceded by

Constituency established

Succeeded by

Karen Lumley

Personal details

Born

Jacqueline Jill Smith

3 November 1962 (age 62)
Malvern, Worcestershire, England

Political party

Labour

Spouses

Richard Timney

(m. 1987; separated 2019)

Children

Alma mater

Hertford College, Oxford (BA)
Worcester College of Higher Education (PGCE)

Jacqueline Jill Smith, Baroness Smith of Malvern, also known as Jacqui Smith, is a British politician, broadcaster, and life peer. A life peer is someone who is given the title of Baron or Baroness and a seat in the House of Lords for their lifetime.

As a member of the Labour Party, she was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the town of Redditch from 1997 to 2010. In 2007, she became the first woman ever to be appointed Home Secretary, one of the most important jobs in the British government. The Home Secretary is in charge of things like policing, immigration, and national security.

After leaving Parliament in 2010, Smith worked in media and health. In 2024, she returned to government as the Minister of State for Skills and was made a Baroness, joining the House of Lords.

Early Life and Teaching Career
Political Career
Life After Parliament (2010–2024)
Return to Politics
Personal Life
See also

Early Life and Teaching Career

Jacqui Smith was born in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. Her parents were both teachers and members of the Labour Party. She went to Dyson Perrins High School and later studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Hertford College, Oxford.

After university, she decided to become a teacher like her parents. She earned a teaching certificate and taught economics at schools in the Worcestershire area. During this time, she was also active in the local Labour party.

Political Career

In the 1997 United Kingdom general election, Jacqui Smith was elected as the Labour MP for Redditch. This was a big election that saw a record number of women become MPs.

Joining the Government

In 1999, Smith was given her first government job as a junior minister in the department for education. She later held roles in the Department of Health. In 2003, she helped introduce the idea of civil partnerships, which gave same-sex couples legal rights similar to marriage.

After the 2005 United Kingdom general election, she became the Minister of State for Schools. In 2006, Prime Minister Tony Blair promoted her to Chief Whip. The Chief Whip's job is to make sure MPs from their party vote for the government's plans in the House of Commons.

Home Secretary

When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, he made Smith the Home Secretary. She was the first woman to ever hold this powerful position. Her job was to keep the country safe. Just one day after she started, there were serious security threats in London and Glasgow that she had to deal with.

As Home Secretary, Smith introduced several new policies:

She proposed giving police more time to question people suspected of terrorism.
She brought in a crime-mapping website so people could see crime levels in their local area.
She worked on new laws to protect people from being trafficked and exploited.

National Identity Cards

Smith's department worked on a plan to introduce national identity cards. The idea was that everyone would have a card to prove who they were. The plan was controversial because some people worried about privacy and the high cost. The project was later cancelled by a new government.

Expenses Controversy and Resignation

In 2009, many MPs were criticized for how they used the money given to them for their work expenses. This was known as the parliamentary expenses scandal.

Smith was accused of wrongly claiming that a room in her sister's house in London was her main home. This allowed her to claim money for her family home in Redditch. She was also criticized when it was revealed that her husband had claimed for inappropriate movies on her expenses.

Smith said she had followed the rules as she understood them and that the movie claim was a mistake, which she paid back. However, the controversy led her to resign from her job as Home Secretary in June 2009. In the 2010 United Kingdom general election, she lost her seat as the MP for Redditch.

Life After Parliament (2010–2024)

After leaving politics, Jacqui Smith stayed in the public eye. She became a political commentator on TV and radio, appearing on shows like Question Time. She also worked in other areas, including for the National Health Service (NHS), where she became the chair of a major hospital group in Birmingham.

In 2020, she took part in the popular TV show Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with professional dancer Anton Du Beke.

Return to Politics

After the Labour Party won the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, asked Smith to return to government. She was appointed Minister of State for Skills.

To take this job, she was made a life peer. On 17 July 2024, she was given the official title Baroness Smith of Malvern. This gave her a seat in the House of Lords, allowing her to be a minister in the government.

Personal Life

Smith married Richard Timney in 1987, and they have two sons. The couple announced their separation in 2020.

Jacqui Smith facts for kids

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