Editing Iain Duncan Smith (section)

==Early parliamentary career==
At the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]] Duncan Smith contested the constituency of [[Bradford West]], where the incumbent [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] MP [[Max Madden]] retained his seat.<ref>{{cite web |date=11 August 2011 |title = UK General Election results: June 1987 |url = http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge87/i03.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110811181223/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge87/i03.htm |archive-date=11 August 2011 |access-date=10 June 2020 |website=politicsresources.net }}</ref> At the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]], Duncan Smith stood in the London constituency of [[Chingford (UK Parliament constituency)|Chingford]], a safe Conservative seat, following the retirement of Conservative MP [[Norman Tebbit]]. He became a member of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] with a majority of 14,938.<ref name="electoralcalculus1992">{{cite web |title = Election Data 1992 |url = http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1992ob.txt |publisher=[[Electoral Calculus]]|access-date=28 June 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054418/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1992ob.txt |archive-date=15 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm|title=Politics Resources|date=9 April 1992|work=Election 1992|publisher=Politics Resources|access-date=6 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724020412/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm|archive-date=24 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> A committed [[Eurosceptic]], he became a constant thorn in the side of Prime Minister [[John Major]]'s government of 1992 to 1997, opposing Major's pro-European agenda at the time. This was something that would often be raised during his own subsequent leadership when he called for the party to unite behind him.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Blitz|first=James|date=26 June 2019|title=Team Boris: the four people behind Johnson's bid for power|url=https://app.ft.com/|access-date=10 June 2020|website=Financial Times|language=en-GB|archive-date=4 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604194135/http://app.ft.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Duncan Smith remained on the [[backbenches]] until 1997, when the new Conservative leader [[William Hague]] brought him into the [[Shadow cabinet]] as [[Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security]], the former version of the [[Department for Work and Pensions]] which he would later lead. At the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], boundary changes saw his constituency renamed [[Chingford and Woodford Green]] and his majority of 14,938 was reduced to 5,714.<ref name=electoralcalculus1997>{{cite web|title=Election Data 1997|url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1997.txt|publisher=[[Electoral Calculus]]|access-date=18 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054424/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1997.txt|archive-date=15 October 2011}}</ref> Duncan Smith realised the dangers that he and neighbouring Conservative MPs faced, so redoubled his efforts: "We spent the final week of the campaign working my seat as if it was [were] a [[Marginal seat|marginal]]. I held on but everywhere around me went."{{sfn|Snowdon|2010|p=2}} In 1999, Duncan Smith replaced [[John Maples]] as [[Shadow Secretary of State for Defence]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 October 2003|title=View from the grassroots|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3223461.stm|access-date=10 June 2020|archive-date=10 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610160501/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3223461.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>