john smith was born in the scottish town of dalmally in argyll and bute. he became a labour party member of parliament (mp) at the 1970 general election for the constituency of north lanarkshire (monklands east from 1983). in 1978, he was given a cabinet post however lost this after labour's defeat at the 1979 general election. he continued in the shadow cabinet until 1992, when labour leader neil kinnock resigned and smith was elected leader. during smith's time as leader, opinion polls showed that labour were becoming more likely to win an election than the conservatives.