Cyril Smith
Encyclopedia
Sir Cyril Smith, MBE
, (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a British
politician
who served as Liberal
and Liberal Democrat
Member of Parliament
(MP) for the constituency of Rochdale
from 1972 until his retirement in 1992.
, and was, as he once described himself, “illegitimate, deprived and poor”. Though he never knew the name of his father, he commented “I suspect I know who he was”. He lived with his mother and two other illegitimate siblings, Eunice and Norman, and grandmother in a one-up one-down cottage (now demolished) on Falinge Rd. His mother, Eva Smith, worked in service to a local cotton mill owning family who lived at 8 Kilnerdyne Terrace.
and then began work at Rochdale Inland Revenue
Tax Office. In the 1945 General Election
, Cyril, aged just 16, gave a public speech in support of Liberal candidate Charles Harvey. Smith says he was given an ultimatum by his boss in the Tax Office to either choose the civil service or politics.
He quit his job at the tax office and obtained employment as an office boy at the Fothergill & Harvey mill in Littleborough, to the northeast of Rochdale. Although owned by the Harveys, a notable Liberal family, Smith claimed the director Charles Harvey knew nothing of the job application by the young man who had lost his job for his public speech in favour of Harvey's Liberal party candidature.
Smith joined the Liberal Party in 1945 and was a member of the National Executive Committee of the Young Liberals in 1948 and 1949. Between 1948–50, he was Liberal agent in Stockport
but following the poor general election results experienced by the Liberal Party in 1950 and 1951, he was advised by the losing Liberal candidate for Stockport, Reg Hewitt, to join the Labour Party.
In 1952 Smith was elected a Labour Party councillor for the Failinge Ward of Rochdale. By 1954, he was Chairman of Rochdale Council's Establishment Committee. In 1963 Smith switched committee roles to be politically responsible for Estates. This included overseeing a considerable amount of residential and town centre development.
In 1966 he became Rochdale's Mayor with his mother Eva as Mayoress. Smith's mother also retained her job as a council cleaner in the town hall
whilst Mayoress. Smith's Mayoral duties were recorded for a BBC Man Alive documentary. Also in 1966 Smith was appointed Chairman of the Education Committee. In this role, he oversaw the introduction of comprehensive education in his district. In 1966, he was also appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire
(MBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
According to his autobiography, Smith was found guilty of an offence relating to public lotteries. He was bound over to keep the peace for 12 months.
In 1966 Smith resigned from the Labour whip
when his party refused to vote for an increase in council house
rents. As a result Smith sat with four other councillors as independents until 1970. His defection, and subsequent election as a Liberal MP, caused some surprise after his prominent role in opposing Ludovic Kennedy
, the Liberal candidate in the 1958 Rochdale by-election
. Controversy was sparked by older Rochdale Liberals when the existing Liberal parliamentary candidate, Garth Pratt, was deselected to make way for Smith's return to the party.
During the 1960s Smith was active in many Rochdale Council committees regarding youth activities. These included: Rochdale Youth Orchestra, Rochdale Youth Theatre Workshop, Governorship of 29 Rochdale schools and Chairmanship of the Youth Committee, Youth Employment Committee and the Education Committee.
Having been Liberal candidate in Rochdale
at the 1970 general election
when he took the party to second place, Smith won the seat at the 1972 by-election
with a large swing from Labour to the Liberals. Smith won with a majority of 5,171. He won the seat on five further occasions. In June 1975 Smith was appointed as the Liberals' Chief Whip
and faced much pressure from the press in the wake of a sexual scandal involving party leader Jeremy Thorpe
. Smith resigned from the Whips' Office on health grounds. Speaking to Granada Television
in 2003, David Steel
reflected on events in the 1970s with the conclusion:
In 1978 Smith approached former Conservative
Prime Minister Ted Heath to discuss forming a new Centre Party. In 1981 Smith was involved in moves to create "a party with a new image" but, according to the Rochdale Observer
, at the foundation of the SDP
in 1981 he warned Liberal Party colleagues to move with caution. Smith was quoted as being "opposed to an alliance at any price".
He was knighted in 1988.
, Smith told You
magazine: "I haven't had a lot of time for courting women ... I've tended to be married to politics".
After leaving Westminster and the death of his mother Eva in 1994, Smith was invited by a life-long friend, the public relations manager at Cunard
, to become a guest lecturer on the QE2 cruise liner.
Smith was a lifelong member of Rochdale Unitarian Church, and maintained strong links with the Unitarian
church throughout his political career and afterwards. He held various posts in the church, including Sunday School Superintendent, and a member of the Board of Trustees which he chaired for many years.
In 1988 Smith appeared in an advertisement promoting the Access
credit card
. As a large and jolly figure of fun, Smith was seen attempting to touch his toes whilst a presenter stated: "Nice one, Sir Cyril, but Access is more flexible".
Smith was a reasonable singer. He sang "She's a Lassie From Lancashire" on Jimmy Savile
's TV show Clunk Click, appeared on a music video for 1980s pop group Bananarama
, and sang a duet with Don Estelle
in a 1999 re-recording of the Laurel and Hardy
song "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine".
In February 2006 Smith was taken to hospital after a fall at his Rochdale home. According to his brother, he had been weakened by dehydration and low potassium
levels. Although retired, he was still active in his community, frequently visiting schools. His hobbies included collecting autographs.
In the summer of 2008 he came under fire for his alleged part in supporting asbestos
production in Rochdale in the 1980s. The New Statesman investigation revealed correspondence between Smith and senior directors of Turner & Newall. In November 2008 a parliamentary Early Day Motion
and Kevin Maguire
of the Daily Mirror called for Smith to be stripped of his knighthood.
Suffering from cancer and weighing just 10 stone, Smith died in his sleep in a Rochdale nursing home on 3 September 2010.
and sexually abused
teenage boys in a hostel that he co-founded, and that the matter was investigated by police but not pursued by prosectors, were made in May 1979 by a local underground
magazine, the Rochdale Alternative Press. The story was repeated in the same month by the national satirical magazine Private Eye
. No public denial or legal action ensued, but after Smith's death the allegations were denied by his family.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a British
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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who served as Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
and Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of 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 the constituency of Rochdale
Rochdale (UK Parliament constituency)
Rochdale is a county 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:...
from 1972 until his retirement in 1992.
Early life
He was born in RochdaleRochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
, and was, as he once described himself, “illegitimate, deprived and poor”. Though he never knew the name of his father, he commented “I suspect I know who he was”. He lived with his mother and two other illegitimate siblings, Eunice and Norman, and grandmother in a one-up one-down cottage (now demolished) on Falinge Rd. His mother, Eva Smith, worked in service to a local cotton mill owning family who lived at 8 Kilnerdyne Terrace.
Education and public life
He was educated at Rochdale Grammar School for BoysBalderstone Technology College
Balderstone Technology College was a school in the Balderstone district of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The school closed August 31, 2010 as a result of the Building Schools for the Future program. The school merged with Springhill High School and formed a...
and then began work at Rochdale Inland Revenue
Inland Revenue
The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax, petroleum revenue tax and stamp duty...
Tax Office. In the 1945 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
, Cyril, aged just 16, gave a public speech in support of Liberal candidate Charles Harvey. Smith says he was given an ultimatum by his boss in the Tax Office to either choose the civil service or politics.
He quit his job at the tax office and obtained employment as an office boy at the Fothergill & Harvey mill in Littleborough, to the northeast of Rochdale. Although owned by the Harveys, a notable Liberal family, Smith claimed the director Charles Harvey knew nothing of the job application by the young man who had lost his job for his public speech in favour of Harvey's Liberal party candidature.
Smith joined the Liberal Party in 1945 and was a member of the National Executive Committee of the Young Liberals in 1948 and 1949. Between 1948–50, he was Liberal agent in Stockport
Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)
Stockport is a borough 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:...
but following the poor general election results experienced by the Liberal Party in 1950 and 1951, he was advised by the losing Liberal candidate for Stockport, Reg Hewitt, to join the Labour Party.
In 1952 Smith was elected a Labour Party councillor for the Failinge Ward of Rochdale. By 1954, he was Chairman of Rochdale Council's Establishment Committee. In 1963 Smith switched committee roles to be politically responsible for Estates. This included overseeing a considerable amount of residential and town centre development.
In 1966 he became Rochdale's Mayor with his mother Eva as Mayoress. Smith's mother also retained her job as a council cleaner in the town hall
Rochdale Town Hall
Rochdale Town Hall is a Victorian-era municipal building in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It is "widely recognised as being one of the finest municipal buildings in the country", and is rated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building...
whilst Mayoress. Smith's Mayoral duties were recorded for a BBC Man Alive documentary. Also in 1966 Smith was appointed Chairman of the Education Committee. In this role, he oversaw the introduction of comprehensive education in his district. In 1966, he was also appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(MBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
According to his autobiography, Smith was found guilty of an offence relating to public lotteries. He was bound over to keep the peace for 12 months.
In 1966 Smith resigned from the Labour whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
when his party refused to vote for an increase in council house
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
rents. As a result Smith sat with four other councillors as independents until 1970. His defection, and subsequent election as a Liberal MP, caused some surprise after his prominent role in opposing Ludovic Kennedy
Ludovic Kennedy
Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy was a British journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author best known for re-examining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and the murder convictions of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley, and for his role in the abolition of the death penalty in the United...
, the Liberal candidate in the 1958 Rochdale by-election
Rochdale by-election, 1958
The Rochdale by-election of 13 February 1958 was a by-election for the constituency of Rochdale, in Lancashire, England, in the House of Commons...
. Controversy was sparked by older Rochdale Liberals when the existing Liberal parliamentary candidate, Garth Pratt, was deselected to make way for Smith's return to the party.
During the 1960s Smith was active in many Rochdale Council committees regarding youth activities. These included: Rochdale Youth Orchestra, Rochdale Youth Theatre Workshop, Governorship of 29 Rochdale schools and Chairmanship of the Youth Committee, Youth Employment Committee and the Education Committee.
Having been Liberal candidate in Rochdale
Rochdale (UK Parliament constituency)
Rochdale is a county 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:...
at the 1970 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
when he took the party to second place, Smith won the seat at the 1972 by-election
Rochdale by-election, 1972
The Rochdale by-election, 1972 was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 October 1972 for the British House of Commons constituency of Rochdale....
with a large swing from Labour to the Liberals. Smith won with a majority of 5,171. He won the seat on five further occasions. In June 1975 Smith was appointed as the Liberals' Chief Whip
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...
and faced much pressure from the press in the wake of a sexual scandal involving party leader Jeremy Thorpe
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe is a British former politician who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976 and was the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979. His political career was damaged when an acquaintance, Norman Scott, claimed to have had a love affair with Thorpe at a time...
. Smith resigned from the Whips' Office on health grounds. Speaking to Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
in 2003, David Steel
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
reflected on events in the 1970s with the conclusion:
- "Cyril was not an ideal Chief Whip because he did not handle a crisis well and had a tendency to say anything to a news camera".
In 1978 Smith approached former Conservative
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...
Prime Minister Ted Heath to discuss forming a new Centre Party. In 1981 Smith was involved in moves to create "a party with a new image" but, according to the Rochdale Observer
Rochdale Observer
The Rochdale Observer is a tabloid newspaper published on Wednesdays and Saturdays for the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It has been Rochdale's main newspaper since 1856....
, at the foundation of the SDP
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
in 1981 he warned Liberal Party colleagues to move with caution. Smith was quoted as being "opposed to an alliance at any price".
He was knighted in 1988.
Personal life
A lifelong bachelorBachelor
A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...
, Smith told You
You (magazine)
YOU is a Japanese josei manga magazine published by Shueisha.-Manga:*Deka Wanko*Gokusen* Aki no Hana, Mijo Monogatari by Riyoko Ikeda-External links:*...
magazine: "I haven't had a lot of time for courting women ... I've tended to be married to politics".
After leaving Westminster and the death of his mother Eva in 1994, Smith was invited by a life-long friend, the public relations manager at Cunard
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
, to become a guest lecturer on the QE2 cruise liner.
Smith was a lifelong member of Rochdale Unitarian Church, and maintained strong links with the Unitarian
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1928, with denominational roots going back to the Great Ejection of 1662...
church throughout his political career and afterwards. He held various posts in the church, including Sunday School Superintendent, and a member of the Board of Trustees which he chaired for many years.
In 1988 Smith appeared in an advertisement promoting the Access
Access (credit card)
Access was a credit card brand originally introduced in the United Kingdom in 1972 by a consortium of National Westminster Bank, Midland Bank , Lloyds Bank , and The Royal Bank of Scotland, as a rival to the established Barclaycard...
credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
. As a large and jolly figure of fun, Smith was seen attempting to touch his toes whilst a presenter stated: "Nice one, Sir Cyril, but Access is more flexible".
Smith was a reasonable singer. He sang "She's a Lassie From Lancashire" on Jimmy Savile
Jimmy Savile
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile, OBE, KCSG was an English disc jockey, television presenter and media personality, best known for his BBC television show Jim'll Fix It, and for being the first and last presenter of the long-running BBC music chart show Top of the Pops...
's TV show Clunk Click, appeared on a music video for 1980s pop group Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
, and sang a duet with Don Estelle
Don Estelle
Don Estelle was a British actor and singer.Born Donald Edwards in Crumpsall, Manchester, he was brought up in a house on Russell Street, Crumpsall. During World War II, at the age of eight, he was evacuated to Darwen, Lancashire, twenty miles away from his home town, to escape the German bombing...
in a 1999 re-recording of the Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
song "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine".
In February 2006 Smith was taken to hospital after a fall at his Rochdale home. According to his brother, he had been weakened by dehydration and low potassium
Potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are...
levels. Although retired, he was still active in his community, frequently visiting schools. His hobbies included collecting autographs.
In the summer of 2008 he came under fire for his alleged part in supporting asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
production in Rochdale in the 1980s. The New Statesman investigation revealed correspondence between Smith and senior directors of Turner & Newall. In November 2008 a parliamentary Early Day Motion
Early day motion
An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...
and Kevin Maguire
Kevin Maguire (journalist)
Kevin Maguire is a British political journalist, currently Associate Editor at the Daily Mirror newspaper. From an Irish Catholic family, earlier in his career Maguire was Chief Reporter for The Guardian....
of the Daily Mirror called for Smith to be stripped of his knighthood.
Personality
Smith's larger-than-life personality (and stature — he is believed to have been the heaviest British MP ever, having had a peak reported weight of 29 stone 12 pounds, about 190 kilograms) and popular television appearances made him one of the most recognisable British MPs of the 1970s. His nickname, "Big Cyril", was also the title of his autobiography. A common joke on the size of the Parliamentary Liberal Party in the early 1970s was that only one taxi would be needed to transport the entire party; after Smith's election, the party could fill two taxis.Suffering from cancer and weighing just 10 stone, Smith died in his sleep in a Rochdale nursing home on 3 September 2010.
Allegations of sexual abuse
Allegations that in the 1960s he had spankedSpanking
Spanking refers to the act of striking the buttocks of another person to cause temporary pain without producing physical injury. It generally involves one person striking the buttocks of another person with an open hand. When an open hand is used, spanking is referred to in some countries as...
and sexually abused
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
teenage boys in a hostel that he co-founded, and that the matter was investigated by police but not pursued by prosectors, were made in May 1979 by a local underground
Underground press
The underground press were the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations....
magazine, the Rochdale Alternative Press. The story was repeated in the same month by the national satirical magazine Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
. No public denial or legal action ensued, but after Smith's death the allegations were denied by his family.
External links
- Sir Cyril in fight against assembly
- Celebrating Sir Cyril's 75 years of plain speaking
- Sir Cyril 'recovering' after fall, BBC News OnlineBBC News OnlineBBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
, 18 February 2006 - Obituary in The Guardian
- Obituary in The Independent
- Obituary in The Telegraph