Angela Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon

The Right Honourable The Baroness Smith of Basildon PC
Official portrait, 2020
Leader of the Opposition in the Lords Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 May 2015
Party Leader	Harriet Harman (acting) Jeremy Corbyn Sir Keir Starmer
Preceded by	The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Shadow Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords
In office 16 May 2012 – 28 May 2015 Served with The Lord Tunnicliffe
Leader	The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Party Leader	Ed Miliband Harriet Harman (acting)
Preceded by	The Lord Tunnicliffe
Succeeded by	The Lord McAvoy
Ministerial offices Minister of State for the Third Sector In office 8 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 Prime Minister Gordon Brown Preceded by Kevin Brennan Succeeded by Nick Hurd Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister In office 28 June 2007 – 8 June 2009 Served with Ian Austin Prime Minister Gordon Brown Preceded by Keith Hill Succeeded by Anne Snelgrove Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Fire Services In office 5 May 2006 – 28 June 2007 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Jim Fitzpatrick Succeeded by Parmjit Dhanda Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Economy of Northern Ireland In office 14 October 2002 – 5 May 2006 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Barry Gardiner Succeeded by Maria Eagle Assistant Government Whip In office 12 June 2001 – 14 October 2002 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Don Touhig Succeeded by Charlotte Atkins
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Incumbent Assumed office 8 July 2010 Life peerage Member of Parliament for Basildon In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010 Preceded by David Amess Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Angela Evans (1959-01-07) 7 January 1959 (age 65) London, England
Political party	Labour Co-op
Spouse	Nigel Smith
Alma mater	Leicester Polytechnic (BA)

Angela Evans Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon PC (born 7 January 1959)^[1] is a British politician and life peer serving as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords since 2015. A member of Labour Co-op, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon from 1997 to 2010.

Smith served in government as an Assistant Whip from 2001 to 2002 and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 2002 to 2007. She became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in 2007 and served until her appointment as Minister of State for the Third Sector in 2009. Smith lost her seat to the Conservatives at the 2010 general election, contesting the reformed South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency. She was appointed to the House of Lords shortly after her defeat, where she became Shadow Deputy Chief Whip in 2012 and Shadow Leader in 2015.