Tim Smith (UK politician)

Timothy John Smith, known as Tim Smith, (born 5 October, 1947), is a British Conservative politician.

In 1977, he was selected to stand as Conservative candidate for the Labour seat of Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, at the Ashfield by-election, following the resignation of David Marquand. Ashfield was regarded as a 'safe' Labour seat, but on 28 April in an amazing swing, Smith overturned Marquand's October 1974 majority of 22,915 [ [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74b/i01.htm UK general election results, October 1974: Aberavon — Banbury] at Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources] to win by 264 votes [ [http://www.geocities.com/by_elections/77.html#ashfield 1977 by-elections] at British Parliamentary By-elections] over Labour's Michael Cowan. However, Smith was unable to hold the seat in the 1979 general election, was defeated and left the House of Commons.

He was subsequently elected as MP for Beaconsfield in the by-election on 27th May 1982, in which he defeated the Labour candidate and future Prime Minister Tony Blair, who also stood as a candidate.

Smith remained as an MP until the 1997 general election, when he stood down over the Cash-for-questions affair: he had taken undeclared payments of between £18,000 and £25,000 from Mohamed Fayed, the owner of Harrods, much of it allegedly handed over in envelopes stuffed with £50 notes. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1997/03/27/nslea27.html Ex-minister quits over sleaze] , Daily Telgraph, Thursday 27 March 1997] On 3 July 1997 he was found guilty by Sir Gordon Downey of taking cash for questions from Mohammed Al Fayed, along with Neil Hamilton. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1997/07/04/nham04.html Hamilton guilty of taking cash ] ]

He hasn't stood for parliament since then and appears to have left politics altogether.

See also

* Ashfield by-election, 1977
* Beaconsfield by-election, 1982

References

*Rayment