Labour members name Blair as favourite leader – poll
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John Smith
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‘Credible and radical’: John Smith remembered 30 years after his death
Yvette Cooper and others have paid tribute to former Labour leader John Smith 30 years on from his death, with the Shadow Home Secretary saying his "determination to be both credible and radical" is as important now as it was during his…
Best Labour leaders we never had: Bryan Gould
In 1992, John Smith was elected Labour Party leader with 91% of the tripartite electoral college of MPs, Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), and affiliates. The result flattered Smith because CLPs’ votes were cast as a bloc: 55% support for…
Labour should borrow more than John Smith’s charter for employment rights
Listening last week to our Shadow Employment Rights Secretary, Andy McDonald, setting out the party’s vision on workers’ rights was a rare, unifying moment for Labour: "A Labour government that will restore to every working man and woman…
‘The opportunity to serve – that is all we ask’: Tom Watson on the late John Smith
Below is the full text of Tom Watson's memorial lecture marking the 25th anniversary of John Smith's death. Thank you. Dianne, thank you for that generous introduction. I want to pay tribute to your long service to the Fabian Society, to…
‘John Smith would’ve backed a People’s Vote’: Watson’s memorial lecture
Tom Watson will deliver a memorial lecture today to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of John Smith, who led the party from 1992 to 1994. In an event hosted by the Fabian Society, Labour's deputy leader is expected to make a speech…
Extra hustings dates added for final weeks of leadership race
Labour members will have an increased number of opportunities to quiz the leadership candidates after the party added several hustings to the summer schedule, including one that was expected to be held today. There are now nine official…
Corbyn vs Smith – LabourList readers react to this week’s leadership hustings
During Thursday evening’s leadership debate we asked readers for their reaction to the candidates’ hustings. Here are a pick of your contributions: "There is just no getting away from the fact that Smith resigned and Corbyn has been trying…
John Smith attacks the Tories, the SNP and The Sun
After the Sun's recent decision to back the SNP in Scotland and scaremonger against the SNP in the rest of the UK, here's former Labour leader John Smith tasking the Tories, the SNP and the Sun to task on Question Time in 1992: Some things…
The memory of being moved to tears by a politician’s death
I was walking across the schoolyard in Edinburgh twenty years ago today when a friend stopped me to say that John Smith had died. My school was just down the road from Cluny church where Smith worshiped and where his funeral was held. My…
Remembering John Smith
Today we mark two significant anniversaries: the twentieth anniversary of John Smith’s death and the fifteenth anniversary of the first meeting of the Scottish Parliament. John Smith was a giant of the Labour Party. And that wasn’t just…
John Smith and the opportunity to serve
I had a soft spot for John Smith ever since one evening at the Edinburgh Festival in 1988 when, looking up, I realised that he and at least one Smith daughter were filing out of the same show I’d been in – an hour of stand-up by the great…