Eduardo Paolozzi

John Smith, 1938 - 1994. Leader of the Labour Party

About this artwork

This posthumous bust represents Labour leader John Smith who, shortly before his sudden death in 1994, was widely expected to win the next general election and become prime minister. Argyll-born Smith studied history and law at the University of Glasgow before becoming a solicitor and then an advocate in the Scottish courts. In 1970 he was elected Labour MP for North Lanarkshire and in 1974 turned down the post of Solicitor-General of Scotland to become an unpaid parliamentary private secretary at the Scottish Office. Smith progressed through the ministerial ranks until Labour’s defeat in 1979. After returning to the Law and serving in the shadow cabinet, in 1992 he was overwhelmingly voted Labour leader but it was a post he was to hold for only twenty-two months. Smith was survived by his wife Elizabeth and his three daughters.

Updated before 2020

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Eduardo Paolozzi

Eduardo Paolozzi