Home Secretary to Stand Down

Smith will stand down at the next Cabinet reshuffle, expected to take place after the European elections on Thursday.

Jacqui Smith’s political career was thrown into turmoil after the recent revelations surrounding MPs expenses. She became a source of ridicule after her husband, who is also her secretary, claimed public money for a TV subscription which included a £10 claim for two ‘adult films’. Smith was also criticised for allocating her ‘main home’ as a bedroom in her sister’s house, which allowed her to claim a second home allowance for the house where her husband and children lived.

Speaking to the BBC news channel, the Guardian’s political sketch-writer Simon Hoggart said that her resignation came as no surprise. “We knew she was going to be fired”, he claimed. It has been suggested that Smith wanted to step down as long as two months ago. She will continue to serve as the MP for Redditch and will stand at the next General Election.

Jacqui Smith was the first female Home Secretary. The position of Home Secretary is known as one of the four ‘great offices of state’, the others being Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary. Jacqui Smith was only the third woman to hold one of these offices, after Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister) and Margaret Beckett (Foreign Secretary).