Jacqui Smith

The Right Honourable Jacqui Smith
Smith in 2007
Home Secretary
In office 28 June 2007 – 5 June 2009
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	John Reid
Succeeded by	Alan Johnson
Chief Whip of the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office 5 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Hilary Armstrong
Succeeded by	Geoff Hoon
Minister of State for Schools and Learners
In office 6 May 2005 – 5 May 2006
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Stephen Twigg
Succeeded by	Jim Knight
Minister of State for Industry and the Regions
In office 13 June 2003 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Brian Wilson
Succeeded by	Alun Michael
Deputy Minister for Women
In office 13 June 2003 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Barbara Roche
Succeeded by	Meg Munn
Minister of State for Health Services
In office 11 June 2001 – 13 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	John Denham
Succeeded by	Rosie Winterton
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment
In office 29 July 1999 – 10 June 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Charles Clarke
Succeeded by	John Healey
Member of Parliament for Redditch
In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Karen Lumley
Personal details
Born	Jacqueline Jill Smith (1962-11-03) 3 November 1962 (age 61) Malvern, Worcestershire, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Richard Timney ​ ​ (m. 1987; sep. 2019)​
Children	2
Alma mater	Hertford College, Oxford

Jacqueline Jill Smith (born 3 November 1962) is a British broadcaster, political commentator and former Labour Party politician. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Redditch from 1997 to 2010. She served as Home Secretary under Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2009 and was the first woman to hold the position.

Smith was born and raised in Malvern, Worcestershire. She attended Hertford College, Oxford, before training to become a teacher at Worcester College of Higher Education and having a career as an economics and business studies teacher. She was elected for Redditch at the 1997 general election. She joined the government in 1999 and served in a series of ministerial positions under Prime Minister Tony Blair. In the 2006 cabinet reshuffle she was promoted to Chief Whip.

Following the formation of the Brown ministry in 2007, Smith became the first female Home Secretary. She resigned as Home Secretary in June 2009 following her involvement in the parliamentary expenses scandal in which she had falsely claimed that a room in her sister's house was her main home;^{[citation needed]} she was also the subject of controversy after it emerged that her husband had used taxpayer money to purchase pornographic videos. Smith, one of the highest profile figures involved in the scandal, then lost her seat as MP for Redditch in the 2010 general election. After leaving the House of Commons, she remained in public life as a political pundit and took up roles in various other sectors, such as health and media.