26 Facts About Ruth Smeeth

Ruth Smeeth stood as an MP candidate in the 2010 election but was not elected.

Ruth Smeeth was named as an intelligence source to "strictly protect" by the US embassy in London in a 2009 diplomatic cable published online in 2011.

Ruth Smeeth served as Personal Private Secretary to Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, but resigned so she could vote against a second Brexit referendum.

Ruth Smeeth was elected Parliamentary Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement in April 2019 and served until she lost the contest for the Stoke constituency in 2019.

Ruth Smeeth's mother is from east London, and her father is a Scottish trade unionist.

Ruth Smeeth attended school and taught at a Jewish school in Bristol, where her mother was later deputy general secretary for Amicus, and in her early life travelled extensively across the UK due to her mother's work.

Ruth Smeeth graduated with a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Birmingham in 2000.

Ruth Smeeth worked as a policy and research officer for a trade union before working in a public relations role from January 2004 to September 2005 at Sodexo.

Ruth Smeeth then became director of public affairs and campaigns at the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre in November 2005, leaving in early 2007 to work in PR for Nestle.

Ruth Smeeth has been employed by the Community Security Trust and has worked for the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Ruth Smeeth was selected as Labour Party candidate for the Burton constituency in the 2010 general election, finishing 6,304 votes behind Andrew Griffiths of the Conservative Party.

Ruth Smeeth was selected from an all-women shortlist to be Labour Party candidate for Stoke-on-Trent North, following the retirement of incumbent Labour MP Joan Walley, and was elected at the 2015 general election.

Ruth Smeeth was named in a 2009 cable from the US embassy in London as a source to "strictly protect".

Ruth Smeeth backed Yvette Cooper in the 2015 Labour leadership election.

In October 2015 Ruth Smeeth was given an adjournment debate on holiday hunger.

In June 2016 Ruth Smeeth resigned her post as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the shadow Northern Ireland and Scotland teams, alongside others, in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

Ruth Smeeth supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace him in the 2016 Labour leadership election.

Ruth Smeeth campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union in the approach to the 2016 referendum.

In June 2016, at the launch of the Chakrabarti Report, Marc Wadsworth, a Labour Party activist, described Ruth Smeeth as working "hand-in-hand" with Kate McCann of The Daily Telegraph, after McCann passed Ruth Smeeth his press release.

Ruth Smeeth later issued a statement that Wadsworth was using "traditional antisemitic slurs to attack me for being part of a 'media conspiracy'" and criticised a lack of response from Corbyn or his office, calling on him to resign.

Ruth Smeeth retained her seat in the 2017 general election with a much reduced majority.

In March 2019, Ruth Smeeth resigned as PPS to Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party to vote against a second referendum on Brexit, as Labour had instructed its MPs to abstain.

Ruth Smeeth is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.

Ruth Smeeth endorsed Ian Murray in the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election.

Ruth Smeeth was married to Michael Ruth Smeeth, a business executive and the UK chair of the British-American Project.

Ruth Smeeth was appointed an Honorary Captain in the Royal Naval Reserve in July 2021.