Welcome event 2026: Chris Smith 'An LGBTQ+ journey through a lifetime in politics'

In this lecture titled, 'An LGBTQ+ journey through a lifetime in politics', The Right Honourable Chris Smith, Lord Smith of Finsbury, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, draws on his Parliamentary experience and discusses how successive governments have shaped the LGBTQ+ landscape over the last few decades.

The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception.

We welcome those who wish to attend online. Please email lgbtqnetwork@admin.cam.ac.uk for more information.

About the speaker:

Lord Smith served as the Master of Pembroke College between 2015 and the end of July 2025, when he was elected Chancellor of the University.

He is a former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and later served as Chairman of the Environment Agency.

Born in 1951, Lord Smith was educated in Edinburgh and then Pembroke College, Cambridge, achieving a double first in English (and later a PhD on Wordsworth and Coleridge). He was also a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard.

Lord Smith began his political career as a Labour Councillor for the London Borough of Islington, becoming MP for Islington South and Finsbury in 1983. In 1992 he joined the Shadow Cabinet and held a number of frontbench posts before Labour came to power in 1997. He served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport until 2001 when he returned to the back benches, standing down from the Commons in 2005. Immediately afterwards he was made a life peer.

He chaired the Environment Agency from 2008 to 2014; and from 2007 to 2017, he also served as Chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority.