[4] Smith later moved to London, where he qualified as a lawyer with commercial solicitors law firm Clifford Chance, working with them from 1997 to 1999.

In his first two terms in the European Parliament, Smith served as a full member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development[8] winning the coveted Scottish Farmer Magazine award for "Outstanding Contribution to Scottish Agriculture" at the Highland Show in 2009.

[10] On 27 March 2019, Smith gave a speech to the European Parliament where he argued that Brexit was causing Scotland to be removed from the EU against the will of the Scottish people and claimed that Scottish independence could provide a means for Scotland to rejoin the EU.

"[11][12][13] On Sky News in May 2019, Smith claimed that the Brexit Party was "a shell company that's a money laundering front".

After the party's chairman threatened legal action,[14][15] Smith apologised unreservedly and admitted that he had no evidence for his allegation, made a major contribution to the party chairman's legal costs and made a donation to charity.

"We would want to participate an economic & monetary union for the macroeconomic stability," Smith told La Repubblica.

[1] On 12 December 2019, Smith was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling, unseating the previous Conservative Party incumbent Stephen Kerr with a majority of 9,254 votes or 17.6%.

[25] In July 2022 Smith rejected Labour calls for a general election on the grounds that "I... just enjoy what's going on in the UK Government right now because it's actually strengthening our case that Westminster doesn't work.

"[26] Smith faced a selection challenge for the SNP candidacy of the Stirling and Strathallan seat from the husband of the constituency MSP Evelyn Tweed.