Having previously contested Southend West in the 1987 General Election, Smith was selected to stand for election for Labour in Basildon nearly a decade later in December 1995 through an all-women shortlist. She was elected for Basildon at the 1997 general election, replacing the Conservative MP David Amess, who had moved to contest the nearby safer seat of Southend West, which Smith previously fought herself, when Basildon's boundaries were slightly redrawn, aware that his small majority was almost certainly going to be overturned by Labour. She was re-elected comfortably in 2001 and 2005.