Career
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. He is a Professor of Political Economy and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster between 1991 and 1999. He also served as chair and president of the Political Studies Association.
He was created a life peer as Baron Smith of Clifton, of Mountsandel in the County of Londonderry, on 4 November 1997.