Smith, Jacqui (1962– )

British Labour politician, home secretary from 2007. An MP since 1997, she entered Tony Blair's cabinet as parliamentary secretary to the Treasury and government chief whip in May 2006. She became the country's first female home secretary in June 2007, after Gordon Brown became prime minister. She initially stirred controversy by admitting to having smoked cannabis when at university, but dealt resolutely with the challenge of bombs being found in London a day after taking office and with a terrorist attack the next day. Before becoming an MP, she was a teacher of economics and a local government councillor on Redditch Borough Council.

Born in London, she grew up in Malvern, Worcestershire, and studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford University. She trained to be teacher and taught economics at high schools in Redditch and Hagley in the West Midlands 1986–97, and was a Labour Party local councillor 1991–97. She was elected to the House of Commons at the May 1997 general election, for the Redditch constituency, and her first junior ministerial post was undersecretary of state at the Department of Education and Employment 1999–2001. After the 2001 general election, she was promoted to minister of state, initially for social services in the Department of Health and then, from 2003, as minister for industry and the regions in the Department of Trade and Industry and also a deputy minister for women and equality. After the 2005 general election she became minister of state for schools until her promotion in the May 2006 government reshuffle to parliamentary secretary to the Treasury and chief whip.