Page "John Smith (Labour Party leader)" Paragraph 7

Smith was appointed Shadow Chancellor by Neil Kinnock in July 1987 after Party's general election defeat.

However, he suffered a heart attack whilst Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer on 9 October 1988 and was forced to spend three months away from Westminster to recover.

On that occasion, he had complained of chest pains the night before, and had to be persuaded to cancel a flight to London so he could go to hospital for a check up.

He was examined at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by an ECG.

The doctor who examined him said " Whatever it is, we don't think it is your heart ".

Then Smith suddenly collapsed and was briefly unconscious before coming around.

He spent three days in intensive care before leaving hospital on 20 October 1988, to make a full recovery.