Prophet Smith

Prophet became a seaman at an early age. There is a vivid anonymous account by him of his seagoing career in Peter Jamieson's Letters from Shetland (1949).

He subsequently became an organiser for the National Union of Seamen in Lerwick, and later in Greenock. He returned to Shetland again as area organiser for the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society. He eventually became a full-time member of the Highlands and Islands Development Board, on its formation in 1965, responsible for its fisheries expansion programme. He served there for 11 years until his retrial.

Prophet Smith was the first Labour candidate in the Orkney and Shetland constituency, in 1945. Despite finishing in third (last), he achieved a respectable 29% of the vote, falling just under 1,100 votes short of the winner, Basil Neven-Spence. That election also saw the first attempt by Jo Grimond at the Orkney and Shetland seat.

He was a County Councillor for Nesting between 1952 and 1955 and Bressay from 1955 to 1960. He was County convener for four years. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for Nesting in 1949, and had a short spell as a Shetland Islands Council councillor after his retirement, representing Dunrossness, failing to be re-elected to the same seat in 1978. He also briefly represented the Lerwick Town Council between November 1944 and February 1945.

His brother, James, was a Zetland County Councillor for Bressay from 1949 to 1955.

He unsuccessfully contested the Nesting seat in the 1949 County Council election and Dunrossness North seat at the 1978 Shetland Islands Council election.