Jacqueline Jill "Jacqui" Smith (born 3 November 1962) is a British Labour politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Redditch from 1997 until 2010. She notably served as the first ever female Home Secretary, thus making her the third woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State — after Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister) and Margaret Beckett (Foreign Secretary).
She was one of the MPs investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards over inappropriate expense claims. Smith was found to have "clearly" broken the rules on second home expenses and ordered to apologise. On 5 June 2009, she stood down as Home Secretary in the Cabinet reshuffle, and later on lost her seat as Member of Parliament in the 2010 elections.

Ms Smith showed no emotion as she lost the seat to Tory rival Karen Lumley, losing the 2,716 majority she won in the last election. She polled just 13,317 votes compared with Ms Lumley’s 19,138.

Elected in 1997 as one of the record number of female MPs — the so-called Blair Babes — she enjoyed a spectacular rise to power, becoming the first female Home Secretary in Gordon Brown’s first reshuffle in 2007.

She was ordered to apologise to the Commons for breaking the rules on second home expenses after she named her sister’s London home as her main residence and her family home in Redditch as her “second home”. Ms Smith, 47, who claimed £116,000 over six years from her living arrangement, stood down as Home Secretary in June last year.

She also faced humiliation over her claim for her cable television package, which included two adult films. Her husband Richard Timney made a public apology for the embarrassment he caused her.

One of the earliest political casualties of the night was Lembit Öpik, the MP whose extra-curricular interests - from asteroids to Cheeky Girls - made him one of the best known Liberal Democrats in the country.

Even on a night when the Liberal Democrat surge failed to materialise, Mr Opik scored a spectacular defeat when he lost what had been a safe seat for the party by just over 1,000 votes - a swing of 13.16 per cent to the Conservatives.

Even the naturally upbeat Mr Opik admitted the result was unexpected. “I’m really quite disappointed I lost,” he said. “I didn’t expect the result and neither did my team. It’s a sad time for me. On the other side if you stand for politics you have to be willing to contemplate the possibility of defeat.”

A convivial figure who has made regular appearances on television chat shows Mr Opik, 45, has attracted attention ever since he was elected MP for Montgomeryshire in 1997.

In his time he has been Liberal Democrat spokesman for education, Northern Ireland, Wales, business and housing. What will be remembered for, however, is his love life.

He had a long term relationship with the weathergirl Sian Lloyd, and was expected to marry her. Then in 2006 he caused a stir when he swapped Ms Lloyd for Gabriela Irimia, one half of the kitsch Romanian pop duo, The Cheeky Girls, who enjoyed chart success with The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum).

They became engaged after he proposed in Rome, but split up in 2008 after what was described as a “difficult period” in their relationship.

In 1999 Mr Opik, who speaks Estonian and German, urged the Government to invest in measures to protect the Earth from being struck by a giant asteroid which could wipe out the entire human race.

If not a political casualty, then at least a spectacular failure, Esther Rantzen saw her political career go down in flames before it had even got off the ground when she secured just 1,872 votes in Luton South.

Ms Rantzen, who came fourth, originally announced her intention to stand against Labour MP Margaret Moran in the wake of the expenses scandal when it emerged the MP claimed £22,500 to treat dry rot at a property in Southampton - 100 miles away from her constituency.

The other most high-profile casualty was Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland’s First Minister who sensationally lost his east Belfast seat to the Alliance Party in the biggest political upset in the history of the region.






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