Smyth was first elected to Belfast City Council for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in 1981, representing 'Area F' which was equivalent to the modern wards of Falls, Clonard, Blackstaff and Shaftesbury.
[4] At the elections to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996, Smyth stood in West Belfast, but was unsuccessful in the heavily republican constituency.
[5] However, he was indirectly elected, as being placed seventh on the DUP's regional list ultimately enabled him to take one of the party's two "top-up" seats.
Smyth stood for election as the Deputy Lord Mayor but was defeated by Joe O'Donnell of Sinn Féin, this time on the casting vote of Ekin.
[15] He left the DUP, and gave an interview in which he claimed that the unionist community on the Shankill Road did not want loyalist paramilitaries to give up their weapons.