Jacqui Smith

The Right Honourable The Baroness Smith of Malvern PC
Smith in July 2024
Minister of State for Skills
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 July 2024
Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
Preceded by	Luke Hall
Government spokesperson for Equalities
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 October 2024
Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
Preceded by	Office established
Home Secretary
In office 28 June 2007 – 5 June 2009
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	John Reid
Succeeded by	Alan Johnson
Chief Whip of the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office 5 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Hilary Armstrong
Succeeded by	Geoff Hoon
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 (1962-11-03) 3 November 1962 (age 62) Malvern, Worcestershire, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Richard Timney ​ ​ (m. 1987; sep. 2019)​
Children	2
Alma mater	Hertford College, Oxford (BA) Worcester College of Higher Education (PGCE)

Jacqueline Jill Smith, Baroness Smith of Malvern, PC (born 3 November 1962), is a British politician, broadcaster and life peer who has been serving as Minister of State for Skills and Government spokesperson for Equalities since 2024.^[1][2] A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Redditch from 1997 to 2010. Smith previously served as Home Secretary under Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2009 and was the first woman to hold the position.

Smith was born and raised in Malvern, Worcestershire. She attended Hertford College, Oxford, before training to become a teacher at Worcester College of Higher Education and having a career as an economics and business studies teacher. She was elected for Redditch at the 1997 general election. She joined the government in 1999 and served in a series of ministerial positions under Prime Minister Tony Blair. In the 2006 cabinet reshuffle she was promoted to Chief Whip.

Following the formation of the Brown ministry in 2007, Smith became the first female Home Secretary. She resigned as Home Secretary in June 2009 following her involvement in the parliamentary expenses scandal in which she had falsely claimed that a room in her sister's house was her main home;^[3] she was also the subject of controversy after it emerged that her husband had used taxpayer money to purchase pornographic videos. Smith, one of the highest profile figures involved in the scandal, then lost her seat as MP for Redditch in the 2010 general election. Between leaving the House of Commons and rejoining the government in 2024, she remained in public life as a political pundit and took up roles in various other sectors, such as health and media.