Smith, one of the highest profile figures involved in the scandal, then lost her seat as MP for Redditch in the 2010 general election.

Between leaving the House of Commons and rejoining the government in 2024, she remained in public life as a political pundit and took up roles in various other sectors, such as health and media.

Her local MP, Conservative backbencher Michael Spicer, recalled in Parliament in 2003 how he had first met her when he addressed the sixth form at The Chase School, where her mother was a teacher;[4] he joked: "So great was my eloquence that she immediately rushed off and joined the Labour Party.

Smith entered the Government in July 1999, as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Employment, working with the Minister for School Standards Estelle Morris.

[15][16] Following the 2005 general election, Smith was appointed Minister of State for Schools at the Department for Education and Skills, replacing Stephen Twigg who had lost his seat.

In a period when supporters of Gordon Brown were pushing Prime Minister Tony Blair to resign, she was successfully able to calm the situation down.

[18] The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson described her as being effective at "making peace between the warring Blair and Brown factions".

[22] On 24 January 2008, she announced new powers for the police, including the proposal to permit law enforcement services to hold terrorist suspects or those linked to terrorism for up to 42 days without charging them.

A junior Home Office official, Christopher Galley, was later arrested regarding the same alleged offences as Green, and was released on bail.

[35][36] In May 2009, Smith announced that the cost of introducing the National Identity Card project, had risen to an estimated £5.3 billion, and that it would first become compulsory for foreign students and airport staff.

Smith's admission was made public the day after Gordon Brown appointed her head of a new government review of UK drugs strategy.

"[46]In February 2009, Smith was accused by Nutt of making a political decision in rejecting the scientific advice to downgrade ecstasy from a class A drug.

[48] On 5 May 2009, Smith named 16 "undesirable individuals", including convicted murderers and advocates of violence, who were to be banned from entering the United Kingdom over their alleged threat to public order.

[49] Controversially, the exclusion list included outspoken American talk radio host Michael Savage, who instructed London lawyers to sue Smith for "serious and damaging defamatory allegations".

Smith was investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards over accusations that she had inappropriately designated her sister's home in London as her main residence.

The reports made clear that the films had been viewed in the family home at a time when Smith was not present, and that she had given her husband, Richard Timney, a "real ear-bashing" over the incident.

[61] However, Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, was critical of her actions, stating that naming her sister's spare bedroom as her main home was "near fraudulent".

[62] Smith was one of the highest profile politicians involved in the expenses scandal[63] and citing the impact on her family life she later resigned.

Smith reacted by saying that she was "disappointed that this process has not led to a fairer set of conclusions, based on objective and consistent application of the rules as they were at the time.

Smith said that she had felt "frozen rather than angry" on learning that her husband had entered a parliamentary expenses claim for two pornographic films.

"[68] Smith's major achievements as Home Secretary were introduction of tougher prostitution laws,[28] a reduction in crime rates[29] and promotion of Police Community Support Officers.

[71] Smith wrote an open letter to the new Conservative home secretary Theresa May, advising her that the post was often seen as a "poisoned chalice".

[citation needed] On 24 August 2011 it emerged that Smith had arranged for two prisoners on day-release to paint a room in her house, when they were supposed to be undertaking work to benefit the community.

The Ministry of Justice launched an internal investigation into the matter, and Smith made a donation to the charity overseeing the scheme.

[76] The episode was condemned by Matthew Elliot of the TaxPayers' Alliance, who stated: "It's a disgrace that a former home secretary has used prisoners as her personal handymen".

[77] Smith previously co-hosted a weekly show on talk radio station LBC alongside former Conservative cabinet minister David Mellor – she took over from Ken Livingstone after he left to contest the London mayoral race of 2012.

[78] She became chair of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in December 2013,[79][80] though in 2020 she stepped down from this role temporarily to perform in Strictly Come Dancing.

Since 2017, Smith has co-hosted a weekly political and current affairs podcast, entitled For The Many, alongside LBC broadcaster Iain Dale.