Cat Smith was first elected as the Labour MP for Lancaster & Fleetwood in 2015, being re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 2,380.
The constituency of Lancaster and Fleetwood in Lancashire covers the county town of Lancaster on the River Lune, and the nearby coastal town of Fleetwood that overlooks Morecambe Bay. Lancaster contains a high student population, containing a campus from the University of Cumbria as well as Lancaster University itself. Fleetwood is a fish processing centre, and also includes a factory that manufactures the Fisherman’s Friend lozenge. Close to the M6 motorway and on the West coast mainline, this constituency was held by the Conservatives between 2010 and 2015, but has moved to Labour, albeit by quite small majorities in the last few elections.
Cat Smith previously sat in the Shadow Cabinet, and is the Shadow Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, and Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs. She left the Labour front bench in November 2021, citing concerns that Jeremy Corbyn had not been reinstated to the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Born in 1985 in Barrow-in-Furness, Smith moved to Lancaster in 2003 where she studied at Cartmel College, Lancaster University, graduating with a BA in Sociology and Gender Studies.
She identifies herself as a Christian, socialist, feminist, republican and trade unionist.
Smith is open bisexual, saying in 2016, that she looks forward to the day when sexual orientation isn’t news. She has a young son.
Prior to entering Parliament, Smith worked as a researcher for Jeremy Corbyn MP, and then as a policy officer for the British Association of Social Workers.
In 2010 she contested the nearby seat of Wyre and Preston North without success. Smith is strongly opposed to fracking.
Smith sits on the left of the Labour Party. She supported Rebecca Long Bailey in the 2020 Labour leadership election, having backed Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 and 2016 contests.
Smith is a co founder of the pro abortion group, Christians for Choice.
In 2021, Cat Smith completed the London marathon.
Cat Smith is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Valproate and other Anti Epileptic Drugs in Pregancy. She is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Uplands and Hill Farming; Greenland; First do no Harm; Political Literacy; Social Work; and Transport Across the North.
Email: cat.smith.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.catsmith.co.uk/
Twitter: @CatSmithMP
