At the 1924 general election he stood for his father's constituency and won a three-cornered fight with a majority of more than 10,000. In his 30 years in the House of Commons he was always a backbencher, described by "The Times" as a 'diehard Tory' although well-liked on both sides of the house. In his memoirs, "Way of Life", his fellow Conservative John Boyd-Carpenter described Smithers as "an extreme Tory out of a vanished age" and both deeply religious and "not insensitive to the consoling effect of alcohol". Harold Macmillan said he "fondly believed himself to be a good Tory". He was knighted in the 1934 Birthday Honours.