The Rt Hon Christopher Robert Smith (born July 24, 1951) is a British Labour Party Member of Parliament and former Cabinet minister. He was the UK's first openly gay MP, coming out in 1984, and is now the first ever MP to admit that he is HIV positive.

Chris Smith attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he gained a PhD with a thesis on Coleridge and Wordsworth, and was president of the Cambridge Union Society. He worked for a housing charity and became a councillor in the London Borough of Islington before narrowly winning the seat of Islington South & Finsbury at the 1983 general election. He became an opposition whip in 1986, a shadow Treasury minister from 1987 to 1992, and shadowed the environment, heritage, pensions and health portfolios between 1992 and 1997.

In 1997 he was appointed to Tony Blair's Cabinet as the first Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. As a Minister known to have a close connection with the UK arts scene his time at DCMS is generally regarded as a success as many projects funded through the National Lottery came to fruition. In 2000 he managed to secure a tax rebate that enabled many museums to give free admission. He held this position throughout the Labour government's first term, but was sacked and returned to the back benches after the 2001 election to make way for the up-and-coming Tessa Jowell.

After over 20 years in Parliament, Chris has decided not to contest his Islington South & Finsbury constituency at the next election. He has recently taken up a position as Director of the Clore Leadership Programme, an initiative aimed at helping to train and develop new leaders of Britain's cultural sector. He also currently a board member of the Royal National Theatre and Chairman of the Wordsworth Trust.

Smith is a keen mountaineer and was the first MP to climb all the 3,000ft "Munros" in Scotland.

On 30 January 2005 he revealed to the Sunday Times that he has HIV and was first diagnosed in 1987. He decided to go public following Nelson Mandela's announcement of his son's death from AIDS.

External links

• Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle - Chris Smith (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-4833,00.html)
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Chris Smith MP (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/?pid=10547)
• BBC News - Former minister is HIV-positive (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4219501.stm)
• Guardian - Smith hopes HIV revelation will help fight Aids in Africa (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1402074,00.html)

Preceded by: Virginia Bottomley

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 1997–2001

Followed by: Tessa Jowell