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25 years ago today, John Smith died. I was a student, on a two-week placement at the Press Association, and was due to spend the day at PA's Westminster office. (1/11)
Arriving at the old Fleet Street offices, there was pandemonium. An ambulance had been called to Mr Smith's home in the Barbican, but his fate was unknown. As today, PA was the source of those "breaking news" straps on TV. (2/11)
Within a few minutes his death was confirmed. More pandemonium, as reaction and obituaries were fed out to newsrooms across the country. (3/11)
In the corner of the office, I read it all in silence. Eventually, I suggested it probably wasn't the best day to bother the Westminster office, but was told to go -- "you may as well see history in the making." (4/11)
Walking through the Palace of Westminster, I saw political leaders on all sides standing quietly in groups, staring into space, embracing, and crying. (5/11)
The Commons only sat for one hour that day, for tributes. My first time in there was perched in a packed press gallery, watching John Major and Margaret Beckett lead those tributes. (6/11)
What would have happened if John Smith hadn't died? Labour would almost certainly have won the next election, but probably not by the huge majority claimed by Tony Blair in 1997. (7/11)
Labour probably wouldn't have swung quite so much to the centre ground. But Blair and Gordon Brown would have remained key figures in the government, and likely rivals for the leadership when a vacancy opened up. (8/11)
Would Labour under John Smith have been as close to the US as Tony Blair was with George W Bush? Would the UK have signed up to the second gulf war? Would Labour have won three elections in a row? (9/11)
You rarely hear John Smith's name mentioned in political debate these days, but in dying so young he had a huge impact on the course the country would take in the years that followed. (10/11)
If you've half-an-hour, the World At One from the day of John Smith's death is well worth a listen... (11/11)
