She previously held the post of Scotland Editor, having joined the BBC in spring 2014 for the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum on 18 September 2014.
Smith has covered stories ranging from the United States presidential elections and the Madrid train bombings (for which Channel 4 News won an International Emmy in 2004), to the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith and an exclusive interview with Saddam Hussein's defence lawyer.
In 1991, Smith moved to London as an assistant producer with BBC Youth Programmes, working on Rough Guide, Rapido and Reportage.
[9] In August 2017, it was announced that Smith was to succeed Andrew Neil as the presenter of the Sunday Politics programme on BBC One from mid-September that year.
[10][11] In November 2021, it was announced that Smith had been appointed BBC News's North America editor, succeeding Jon Sopel.
On 22 September 2007, Smith married Simon Conway, an author, former British Army officer and co-chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition, on the island of Iona, where her father is buried.