Smith, John
Smith, John (1938–94). Scottish QC who became leader of the Labour Party (1992–4). Smith was chosen to succeed Kinnock both as someone who had held office (minister of state, Department of Energy 1975–6; minister of state, Privy Council Office 1976–8; secretary of state for trade 1978–9), and as a political heavyweight who possessed the gravitas that Kinnock lacked. Even so, his ‘shadow budget’ of 1992 had contributed to Labour's defeat. Smith, though much respected, was not perhaps as good as he was painted. He never dominated the Commons or captured the national imagination as Wilson had done as leader of the opposition. And although he broke the trade union block vote at the 1993 party conference, his longer-term strategy for Labour was not entirely clear. Cruelly, his greatest contribution to Labour's progress was his sudden death in 1994 from a second heart attack. This brought the youthful Tony Blair as his successor.
Andrew Sanders
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Smith, John
