Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith was born in Wokingham, Berkshire on 1 February 1951 and grew up in Burghfield, Berkshire. He was educated at Reading School and St John's College, Oxford. He has a BA in PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics) and a BPhil in Sociology.

Before his election to Parliament in 1987, Andrew worked for the Oxford and Swindon Co-op as Member Relations Officer, and for the Open University as a tutor. He was a Councillor on Oxford City Council from 1976 to 1987, during that time chairing the Planning, Recreation and Race Relations Committees.

Andrew Smith was selected to fight Oxford East for the 1983 General Election. He narrowly lost a tight marginal battle against Steve Norris but went on to win an equally tight battle in 1987. He was re-elected in 1992 and 1997.

In Opposition, Andrew was Shadow Higher Education Minister (1989-92), Shadow Treasury Minister (1992-94), Shadow Chief Secretary (1994-96) and Shadow Transport Secretary (1996-97).

In Government, he was Minister for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportunities, responsible for getting the New Deal up and running and for Labour's strategy for a Disability Rights Commission. In 1999 he was promoted to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in charge of public spending and service performance. Click here for details. Andrew has also been Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from May 2002 to September 2004.

Andrew is President of Oxford Blackbirds Boys Football Club, President of Pathway Sheltered Workshop, a Patron of the Radcliffe Medical Foundation and Patron of the Oxford Reserve Forces and Cadets. He lives with his wife Val on the Blackbird Leys estate which he represented as a Councillor.