Rt Hon Lord Chris Smith of Finsbury is a Labour politician and former cabinet minister. In 1984 he was the first MP to openly declare he was gay and in 2005 he publicly announced his HIV diagnosis, moved by Nelson Mandela’s announcement of his son’s death from AIDS.
In 1997 he was appointed as the first Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. He was made a life peer in 2005. He was appointed Chair of the Environment Agency in 2008 and continues in this role today.
As Patron of The Food Chain, Lord Smith most recently spoke movingly about his work and life at a lunch to promote the first Spring Office Picnic to London businesses in 2011.