Henry Smith (British politician)
Encyclopedia
Henry Edward Millar Smith (born 14 May 1969) is a British Conservative Party
politician who was Leader of West Sussex County Council
from 2003 to 2010. He is the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Crawley
, having been elected in the 2010 general election.
. He became Leader of the Council in 2003 at the age of 34, becoming the youngest county council leader in the country. He was a Crawley Borough Councillor from 2002 to 2004. In 2001
and 2005
he stood against Laura Moffatt
, the second time achieving the highest national swing from Labour to the Conservatives, reducing the majority to 37, the smallest in the country.
He was the Chairman of the South East Counties Leaders Group (latterly South East Strategic Leaders) from 2007 to 2010, and has previously served as a Governor at The Oaks, The Brook, and Oriel High schools in Crawley. He co-authored the 2005 publication Direct Democracy
. He has also campaigned extensively for a new hospital in the Pease Pottage
area. He was elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election. Following his election as Crawley MP he resigned as a West Sussex County Councillor on 1 September 2010.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician who was Leader of West Sussex County Council
West Sussex County Council
West Sussex County Council is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county also contains 7 district and borough councils, and 159 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 71 elected councillors...
from 2003 to 2010. He is the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Crawley
Crawley (UK Parliament constituency)
Crawley is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
, having been elected in the 2010 general election.
Career
Henry Smith was elected as a County Councillor in 1997United Kingdom local elections, 1997
The United Kingdom local elections took place on the 1 May, 1997. Elections took place for all of the English shire counties, some English unitary authorities and all of the Northern Ireland districts...
. He became Leader of the Council in 2003 at the age of 34, becoming the youngest county council leader in the country. He was a Crawley Borough Councillor from 2002 to 2004. In 2001
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
and 2005
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
he stood against Laura Moffatt
Laura Moffatt
Laura Jean Moffatt is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Crawley from 1997 until 2010.-Early life:...
, the second time achieving the highest national swing from Labour to the Conservatives, reducing the majority to 37, the smallest in the country.
He was the Chairman of the South East Counties Leaders Group (latterly South East Strategic Leaders) from 2007 to 2010, and has previously served as a Governor at The Oaks, The Brook, and Oriel High schools in Crawley. He co-authored the 2005 publication Direct Democracy
Direct democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
. He has also campaigned extensively for a new hospital in the Pease Pottage
Pease Pottage
Pease Pottage is a small village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the southern edge of the Crawley built up area, in the civil parish of Slaugham....
area. He was elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election. Following his election as Crawley MP he resigned as a West Sussex County Councillor on 1 September 2010.
External links
- Henry Smith MP official constituency website
- Henry Smith MP on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
- Henry Smith MP Conservative Party profile
- Crawley Conservatives
- Campaign For Pease Pottage Hospital