John Smith (Labour Party leader) John Smith (Labour Party leader) John Smith (13 September 1938 – 12 May 1994) was a British Labour politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his death from a heart attack in May 1994. Smith first entered Parliament in 1970 and, after junior ministerial roles as Minister of State for Energy (1975–1976) and Minister of State for the Privy Council Office (1976–1977), he entered the Cabinet at the end of James Callaghan's tenure as Prime Minister, serving as Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade (1978–1979). During Labour's time
Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party Iraq. In 2005, proposed Labour Party posters depicted the Conservative Party leader Michael Howard in a pose resembling Shakespeare's Shylock from "The Merchant of Venice", superimposed onto the bodies of flying pigs and swinging a pocket watch on a chain resembling Fagin from "Oliver Twist". The Board of Deputies of British Jews refused to get involved in the controversy. In 2010, Labour MP Martin Linton said, "There are long tentacles of Israel in this country who are funding election campaigns and putting money into the British political system for their own ends." Community Security Trust spokesman Mark Gardner responded: "Anybody