Owen Smith's Biography

Owen Smith was born in Morecambe on 2 May 1970 but was brought up in Pontypridd and Barry. His father Professor David Burton Smith was Head of the Arts Council in Wales.

He gained a BA in History and French at the University of Sussex.

Before becoming an MP, Owen Smith worked for BBC radio for 10 years including with the flagship news show Today.

In 2002, Owen Smith left the BBC and became a Special Advisor to the then Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy MP. He also worked for Murphy as a special adviser in the Northern Ireland office.

He left the Northern Ireland Office in 2005 and worked in the biotech and pharmaceuticals industry, notably for Pfizer and Amgen.

In May 2010 Owen Smith was elected the Labour MP for Pontypridd.

His posts have included Shadow Minister for Wales 2010-11, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales 2012-2015, and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pension 2015-2016.

He was one of many Labour MPs to resign from the shadow cabinet after the EU Referendum in 2016 due to dissatisfaction with the leader Jeremy Corbyn.

On 13 July 2016, Owen Smith said he will stand against Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour Party leadership.

Six days later, Angela Eagle dropped out of the contest and gave Owen Smith her support in his head-to-head contest with Corbyn for Labour leader.

Owen Smith ended up losing to Jeremy Corbyn, polling 193,220 votes compared to Corbyn's 313,209.