Sydney George Smith was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 politician of the Liberal Party

New Zealand Liberal Party

The New Zealand Liberal Party is generally regarded as having been the first real political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. Out of office, the Liberals gradually found themselves pressed between the conservative Reform Party and the growing Labour Party...

 and then the National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

, and a cabinet minister.

He was Minister of Education

Minister of Education (New Zealand)

The Minister of Education is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the country's schools, and is in charge of the Ministry of Education.The present Minister is Anne Tolley, a member of the National Party.-History:...

 in the Liberal-Reform coalition Government of New Zealand

Liberal-Reform coalition Government of New Zealand

The Liberal-Reform coalition government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1931 to 1935. It was a coalition between two of the three major parties of the time, the Liberals and Reform, formed to deal with the Great Depression which began in 1929...

 from 1934 to 1935, and was also Minister of Labour.

He represented the Taranaki

Taranaki (New Zealand electorate)

-History:The electorate existed from 1881 to 1928, and from 1978 to 1996. In 1996 it was combined with the adjacent King Country to form the Taranaki-King Country electorate.-Election results:...

 electorate from 1918 to 1925. At the 1918 contest, Smith was an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 Labour

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

 candidate and in 1922 a Liberal Labour candidate (Wilson, p. 235; Gustafson, p. 344). In 1925 he stood unsuccessfully for New Plymouth

New Plymouth (New Zealand electorate)

New Plymouth is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate. It was first created for the 1st New Zealand Parliament in 1853 and has existed since, with one 22-year interruption...

, but in 1928 he was successful, and he returned to Parliament until he was defeated in 1938 by Labour

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

 candidate Frederick Frost

Frederick Frost

Rev Frederick Ledger Frost was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.He represented the New Plymouth electorate from the 1938 general election to 1943, when he was defeated by the National candidate, Rev Ernest Aderman, who was also a Christian minister.Frost was born in Northumberland,...

.

He was a son of the Taranaki Member of Parliament Edward Metcalf Smith

Edward Metcalf Smith

Edward Metcalf Smith was an armourer and Liberal Party politician in New Zealand, and an advocate of the development of Taranaki's ironsand and oil.-Early life:...

. He worked in the New Zealand Railways

New Zealand Railways Department

The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...

for 20 years, and for 13 years held office in the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants.