A former Chairman of the Union of Liberal Students, he contested the 1959 General Election in West Lewisham, being the youngest candidate of any party that year.

In 1997, he entered the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat peer, serving as his party's frontbench spokesperson on Northern Ireland from 2000-11.

[3] He was created a Knight Bachelor in the 1996 Birthday Honours for services to higher education,[4] receiving the accolade from The Queen on 3 December 1996.

[5] He was created a life peer as Baron Smith of Clifton,[6] of Mountsandel in the County of Londonderry, on 4 November 1997.

He received the following honorary degrees: Smith married Brenda Susan (née Eustace) in 1960, with whom he had two sons; the marriage was dissolved in 1973.