Owen Smith (politician)
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Owen Smith MP |
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| Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | |
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In office 14 September 2015 – 27 June 2016 |
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| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Stephen Timms (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Debbie Abrahams |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Wales | |
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In office 15 May 2012 – 14 September 2015 |
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| Leader |
Ed Miliband Harriet Harman |
| Preceded by | Peter Hain |
| Succeeded by | Nia Griffith |
| Shadow Minister for Wales | |
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In office 25 September 2010 – 15 May 2012 |
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| Leader | Ed Miliband |
| Preceded by | Wayne David |
| Succeeded by | Nia Griffith |
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Member of Parliament for Pontypridd |
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Assumed office 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Kim Howells |
| Majority | 8,585 (22.5%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 May 1970 Morecambe, England, UK |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Wood (m. 1995) |
| Alma mater | University of Sussex |
Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd since 2010.
Before being elected to Parliament, Smith worked as a radio and television producer for the BBC, as a special adviser for Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, and as a political lobbyist for Pfizer. Smith went on to serve as Shadow Welsh Secretary under Ed Miliband from 2012 until 2015, and then as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn from 2015 until he resigned in June 2016.
On 13 July 2016, he announced his intention to stand for the leadership of the Labour Party. On 19 July, he became the sole challenger to Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership election. He has been described as being on the 'soft left' of the Labour Party, with Kevin Maguire of the Daily Mirror noting Smith's politics "largely overlap when it comes to policy" with Corbyn's.
Smith was born in Morecambe, Lancashire, the son of the Welsh historian and writer David "Dai" Smith, a former chair of the Arts Council of Wales. He was brought up in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, and attended Barry Comprehensive School. He joined the Labour Party at the age of 16. He later studied History and French at the University of Sussex. He worked for the BBC as a radio producer for 10 years, working on a variety of programmes in both Wales and London, including Today for BBC Radio 4 and the weekly politics programme Dragon's Eye for BBC Cymru Wales.
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