Kmflett's Blog

Tony Benn on John Smith (died 12^th May 1994)

John Smith MP the Labour leader died 32 years ago on 12th May 1994. I remember the occasion well because in this period, before I descended in trade union officialdom, and indeed before the interwebs, I was a manager, with staff to manage. One of my junior operatives appeared in my 17th floor office at Vauxhall, which overlooked the Thames towards Parliament, to inform me that Smith had died. That’s how news got around in those days.

Tony Benn Diary 12th May 1994

John Smith died today…. It is terribly sad. I have known him for twenty-five years, worked closely with him in the Department of Energy and have been with him in the Cabinet. I liked him very much. He performed a completely different function from Neil Kinnock- he healed the wounds of the Party

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_(Labour_Party_leader)