Baroness Jacqui Smith, the Minister of State for Skills, has announced her engagement to her long-term partner, politics professor Graham Timmins. The 63-year-old former Home Secretary was spotted in the House of Lords this week proudly displaying a new diamond ring, confirming the happy news after a six-year romance.
From Yoga Class to the Despatch Box
The couple's story began in her hometown of Malvern, Worcestershire, with a chance meeting on a staircase. "We crossed on the stairs and I thought, 'He's nice'," Baroness Smith recalled of her first encounter with the University of Birmingham academic. Their relationship developed further when they met properly outside a local yoga class.
Much of their early courtship was conducted over Zoom due to Covid-19 lockdowns, but they bonded over a shared love of exercise and are both members of their local running club. Professor Timmins, a divorced father of two adult daughters, was later seen at the home Baroness Smith shared with her two sons.
A New Chapter After Personal and Political Upheaval
The engagement marks a joyful new beginning for Baroness Smith, who found love in her late fifties following the painful breakdown of her 33-year marriage to Richard Timney. She has spoken candidly about the devastation of that split, which she described as far worse than the end of her political career.
"I felt completely robbed by the fact he was unfaithful and then turned around and said 'I feel I need something new for the next 30 years of my life'," she said on the How to be 60 podcast. Her political career had previously ended amid the MPs' expenses scandal in 2009, after which she lost her Redditch seat.
August Nuptials and a Return to the Front Bench
The loved-up pair have set a date, planning to wed this August. The news was confirmed by her friend and former Good Morning Britain debating partner, Iain Dale, on his podcast. "They're absolutely smitten and devoted to each other," he said, affectionately referring to the groom-to-be by his nickname 'Page Three Boy', coined after the Mail on Sunday revealed their relationship in 2020.
Baroness Smith's romance first became public during her 2020 stint on Strictly Come Dancing, where she was partnered with Anton Du Beke. Following the 2024 general election, Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed her as a skills minister and awarded her a life peerage, marking a remarkable return to the heart of government.
