The Smith Institute is a left-wing think tank

Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It was founded in memory of the late John Smith

John Smith (UK politician)

John Smith was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994...

 QC

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 MP

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,...

, former Leader of the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

.

Its work has focused on regional "rebalancing" away from London towards the North

Northern England

Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...

, health, housing, community cohesion, employment and pay, and early intervention. It was founded in 1996 in memory of John Smith MP who was leader of the Labour Party until his untimely death in 1994. The Smith Institute describes its purpose as pursuing "policies for a fairer society" and states that it aims to build on the John Smith's passion for social justice.

The Institute's director is Paul Hackett  a former special adviser to John Prescott MP. It has recently had articles in the Observer on the regional divide and on the new intake of MPs. Its work with the Centre for Social Justice on early intervention has been widely covered.

While the Labour party led the UK government, a number of the think tank's meetings were held at Number 11 Downing Street, and the organisation allegedly had close ties with Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

. Following a complaint from the right-wing media in 2006, the Smith Institute was the subject to an inquiry by the Charity Commission

Charity Commission

The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales....

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Ed Balls

Ed Balls

Edward Michael Balls, known as Ed Balls, is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer....

MP was given a Senior Research Fellowship at the Institute after he left HM Treasury to stand as a Parliamentary candidate in 2004.