Member of Parliament
Smith first stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate at a by-election in 1961 in the East Fife constituency, and contested that seat again in the 1964 general election. At the 1970 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Lanarkshire succeeding Peggy Herbison. Smith defied the Labour whips in 1971, joining the Labour MPs who, led by Roy Jenkins, voted in favour of entry to the European Economic Community. These included Roy Hattersley, Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers and David Owen all of whom he was later to sit with in the Callaghan cabinet.
Read more about this topic: John Smith (Labour Party Leader)
Famous quotes containing the words member of, member and/or parliament:
“When Hitler attacked the Jews ... I was not a Jew, therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church—and there was nobody left to be concerned.”
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“Undershaft: Alcohol is a very necessary article. It heals the sick—Barbara: It does nothing of the sort. Undershaft: Well, it assists the doctor: that is perhaps a less questionable way of putting it. It makes life bearable to millions of people who could not endure their existence if they were quite sober. It enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person would do at eleven in the morning.”
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