Cat Smith

Cat Smith
MP
Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs
Assumed office
27 June 2016
Leader Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded by Gloria De Piero (Young People
and Voter Registration)
Member of Parliament
for Lancaster and Fleetwood
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded by Eric Ollerenshaw
Majority 1,265 (3%)
Personal details
Born Catherine Jane Smith
(1985-06-16) 16 June 1985
Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, UK
Political party Labour
Alma mater Lancaster University
Religion Methodism[1]
Website Official website

Catherine Jane "Cat" Smith[2] (born 16 June 1985)[3] is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lancaster and Fleetwood since 2015.[4] In September 2015 she was appointed to the Official Opposition frontbench as a Shadow Minister for Women, serving under Kate Green.[5][6] In June 2016 she was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet, with a new portfolio for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs.

Early life

Born in Barrow-in-Furness, Smith attended local comprehensive schools and Barrow-in-Furness Sixth Form College.[7] She moved to Lancaster in 2003 where she studied at Cartmel College, Lancaster University.[8] She graduated with a BA joint honours degree in Sociology and Gender Studies.[9]

Political career

Before entering Parliament, Smith worked for Jeremy Corbyn and as a policy officer for the British Association of Social Workers.[9][10] She unsuccessfully contested Wyre and Preston North in 2010.[10]

Smith has contributed to publications and news blogs associated with the Labour Party, including LabourList and Tribune.[11][12] She identifies herself as a Christian, socialist, feminist, republican and trade unionist.[13] She is one of 27 LGBTI MPs elected at the 2015 general election,[14] identifying as bisexual.[15][16] Smith has stated that she believes Jesus was a radical socialist.[17]

Smith was one of the 36 Labour MPs to nominate Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015 and one of the 14 to support him.[18][17] She has been critical of the 2016 European Union referendum, saying that younger people preferred to remain in the EU, while the majority result was to leave.[19]

Shadow Minister

Corbyn soon appointed Smith to be Minister for Women in the Shadow Equalities Office, where she served under Kate Green. On 27 June 2016 Smith entered the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs.[20] This followed on from a series of resignations of shadow ministers who had lost confidence in Corbyn's leadership.[21] She serves directly under Deputy Leader Tom Watson in the Shadow Cabinet Office (a department in the Opposition frontbench).

Expenses

On 24 May 2016, Lancashire Constabulary announced that an investigation had been opened following allegations that Smith broke election spending laws by spending thousands of pounds more than she declared on expenses.[22][23] In June 2016, Lancashire Constabulary were granted a year-long extension to investigate Smith's election expenses,[24] but in November 2016 they cleared Smith of any wrongdoing and fully exonerated her.[25]

Personal life

In September 2016 Smith married Ben Soffa, her partner of eleven years.[26]

References

  1. ↑ "Hansard" (PDF). publications.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. 2 January 2016. Lancaster is famous for its nonconformist residents, so as a Methodist I feel I am in good company. I am pleased to be making my maiden speech in the debate on Britain in the world, because it was my faith that led me into politics, through the campaigns to drop third world debt and the campaign for fair trade.
  2. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Lancaster City Council. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Biography for Cat Smith". MyParliament. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Lancaster & Fleetwood". BBC News. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Mason, Rowena; Perraudin, Frances (18 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn makes shadow ministers of his critics". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Duffy, Nick (18 September 2015). "Labour appoints bisexual MP Cat Smith to equalities role". Pink News. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Alumni". Barrow Sixth Form College. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Cat Smith". Labour Party. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  9. 1 2 Corbyn, Jeremy. "Report from Jeremy Corbyn MP – 30 years So far" (PDF). Junction Labour. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Lancaster & Fleetwood". ukpollingreport.co.uk. UK Polling Report. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Cat Smith". LabourList. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "All Articles By: Cat Smith". Tribune. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  13. ↑ Smith, Cat (22 August 2013). "Call a spade a spade and a Socialist a Socialist". LabourList. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  14. ↑ Gerdis, Stefanie (8 May 2015). "Britain has elected the most LGBTI MPs in the world". gaystarnews.com. Gay Star News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  15. ↑ Shariatmadari, David (13 May 2015). "The quiet revolution: why Britain has more gay MPs than anywhere else". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "The Corbyn earthquake – how Labour was shaken to its foundations". theguardian.com. The Guardian. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  17. 1 2 "Cat Smith talks Jeremy Corbyn, Jesus Christ and Why 'Socialism' Isn't 'Radical'".
  18. ↑ "Who nominated who for the 2015 Labour leadership election?". newstatesman.com. New Statesman. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  19. ↑ "Lancaster MP Cat Smith says voters have been misled yet again". Lancaster Guardian. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "MP Cat Smith promoted to shadow cabinet". Lancaster Evening Post. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "Labout Shadow Cabinet resignations". The Guardian. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "Labour MP Cat Smith denies improper expenses claim".
  23. ↑ "Police probe into Labour frontbencher Cat Smith's election expenses".
  24. ↑ "Did Labour's Battlebus operation break the rules?".
  25. ↑ "Police Drop Lancaster MP Expenses". The Bay radio. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  26. ↑ "Barrow-born MP weds her partner with Labour leader among the guests". North West Evening Mail. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Eric Ollerenshaw		 Member of Parliament
for Lancaster and Fleetwood
2015–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Gloria De Piero
as Shadow Minister for Young People and Voter Registration		 Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs
2016–present 		Incumbent
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