Jacqui Smith peerage

[Westfacing]

AIBU to be perplexed by Smith being given a peerage and made a minister for education?

I understand that Labour have to increase their number of peers and am in full agreement with Vallance and Timpson but J Smith, why?

She was briefly Home Secretary under Gordon Brown but I don't recall her being associated with Education, nor was she particularly distinguished as a politician.

Am I missing something?

She was a teacher if that counts?

It depends on how you define distinguished. She was Home Secretary, one of the four great offices of state, so was pretty senior. And a peerage just means they want her to be in the government and therefore need her in Parliament, it’s not a honour for outstanding achievement.

I hope she's going to go on some safeguarding training. This is from Wikipedia:

In October 2018 Chief Prosecutor in North West England, Nazir Afzal, alleged on BBC Radio 4 that the Home Office had issued a memo to all police forces in 2008, informing that the child victims of Pakistani grooming gangs had made an "informed choice" and "it's not for you police officers to get involved in". Smith ran the Home Office at the time of this alleged instruction.

Appalling.

But why would they want her in particular to be in government - I don't recall her being active in education over the past years.

I'm genuinely curious - she's been off the radar for so long, well to me she has. Maybe she's been more active behind the scenes than I know.

She was a junior minister in the then DCSF now DfE a couple of times
She was OK

She’s been Secretary of State for Education before. Teachers loved her.

She was never Secretary of State for Education!

Didn't she have an issue with her husband putting porn movies on her expenses .

She was a minister for education in the late 90s. I know this because I was a headteacher and was invited to meet her with the MP for the area our school was in (to discuss an issue) at the DfE back then. I found her very approachable.

What brief has she got? One of the FE blogs is saying minister for skills and universities which would be odd. Schools minister maybe makes sense. It does look odd though, she's not massively experienced or invested in education in the way that Timpson and Vallance are in prisons and science.

She was previously an education minister so does have experience.

Yes I know that, but she doesn't bring a wealth of life long experience to warrant being brought back into government surely? Surely more experience Labour members out there? And if she ends up with the uni brief that will be really disappointing given the shadow, Matt Western, is hugely experienced and knowledgeable. And elected!

When?!

You’re right. She was Minister for Schools.

Yes I know that, but she doesn't bring a wealth of life long experience to warrant being brought back into government surely

Exactly, this was my reason for the thread - absent for years, now back with a peerage.

In a way, given how few of the Labour MPs have had ministerial office, bringing some into government makes sense. As does Sir Patrick Vallance for his understanding of the way government has worked (or not worked) over the last few years.

Not sure it's the right role though.

I don’t rate her - but I don’t see that she’s any more or less qualified than most cabinet ministers at any time- those portfolios are handed out fairly randomly as far as I can see, so you get someone with zero knowledge about healthcare suddenly in charge of the NHS, for example.

With the Tories having been in for 14 years there are very few Labour ministers with experience in government, there is no bad thing appointing a few like her, although sticking her head in the sand over Rochdale is pretty awful and should probably stop her ever being part of government again.

Yes and they are now divorced.

I always liked her. Felt she was down to earth.

She was well regarded by civil servants when at education, I am told. That's already a factor in her favour after the combative approach of the previous government.

She was Home Secretary for two years under Gordon Brown and held a lot of other Ministerial posts, so she has extensive experience of Government which most of the new Ministers lack.
She was one of the most high profile casualties in the MPs' expenses scandal: she had to resign after falsely claiming a room in her sister's house as her main residence.

Absolutely. Few politicians appointed to ministerial briefs ever have any direct experience in that area. Some get moved around to a variety of different ministries.

Quite why Smith is attracting such bemusement bemuses me.

I don’t care how experienced she is in the field of education or indeed government. She claimed that a spare room in her sister’s London home was her “main residence” and that the family house in her constituency, where her husband and children lived, was her “second home”. She paid her sister a small amount for rent for staying a few nights a week - when parliament was sitting - and got the taxpayer to pay all the overheads for her family home, including her husband’s porn viewing. She also put him on her office payroll at £40K p.a. So, even on her Cabinet Minister’s salary PLUS his £40K she still wanted the taxpayer to pay for her family home!

I’m appalled at this appointment! To me it is treating ordinary people with total disrespect. Is that not what the Tories did ??? Was there REALLY no-one better, more deserving of a peerage/ government appointment than her ??

And the 88p bath plug if I recall correctly

What’s changed since then?

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jacqui-smith-im-a-disgrace-and-i-dont-428254