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Sir Cyril Smith (born 28th June 1928) was a British Liberal Party politician. He served as MP for Rochdale from 1972 until retiring in 1992.
Smith won the 1972 election with a large swing from Labour to the Liberals, the final tally giving Smith a majority of 5,171. He won the seat on five further occasions. In June 1975 Smith was appointed as the Liberals' Chief Whip and faced much pressure from the press in the wake of a financial scandal involving party leader Jeremy Thorpe. Smith resigned the Whips on health grounds.
Sir Cyril was overweight throughout his parliamentary career. He traded on this with a larger-than-life personality - indeed his nickname is "Big Cyril" - also the title of his autobiography.
Prior to being voted into Parliament Smith had a long career in local politics. He was first elected to Rochdale council in 1950 and became mayor in 1966. That year he was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. A knighthood followed in 1988.
References
- Big Cyril: Autobiography (1977) ISBN 0491022611. Smith's autobiography.
- Reflections from Rochdale: As I Saw it and as I See it (1997) ISBN 1851873406. A later slimmer autobiographical work.