Scottish political reformer and author.

Smiles studied medicine and subsequently worked as a doctor but his passion was for politics and the campaign for parliamentary reform. Thus in 1838 he abandoned his medical career to become editor of the Leeds Times for which he wrote articles expressing his radical views. While opposing the aristocracy, he supported improved legislation for factory working conditions, household suffrage, the secret ballot, equal representation, short parliaments and the abolition of the property qualification for potential members of parliament. In these beliefs he aligned himself with the Chartist Movement, although unlike others he did not advocate the use of physical force to bring about political change.

In the 1840s Smiles became disillusioned with Chartism. He now argued that 'mere political reform' would not bring progress. Instead he stressed the importance of 'individual reform'. His popular book Self-Help (1859) enshrined the Victorian values of industry, thrift and self-improvement.

In 1845 he became secretary of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway before moving to the South Eastern Railway. During the 1850s he abandoned his interest in parliamentary reform and wrote a series of biographies on great men, including George Stephenson (1857) and Josiah Wedgwood (1894), who achieved success through hard work.