Alan Thomas Howarth, Baron Howarth of Newport, CBE, PC, (born 11 June 1944, Marylebone) is a British politician, and was a Member of Parliament from 1983 until 2005.
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Early life
He is the son of Major Thomas Howarth MC (headmaster of King Edward's School, Birmingham between 1948-52 and born in 1914) and Margaret Teakle. She was a WREN in the Second World War. He was educated at Rugby School and gained a BA in History from King's College, Cambridge in 1965.
Parliamentary career
Howarth was Conservative Party MP for Stratford-on-Avon, first elected in 1983. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science from 1989 to 1992.
Defection
In 1995 he defected from the Conservative Party to the Labour Party, the first MP to defect directly from the Conservatives to Labour, and the first former Conservative MP to sit as a Labour MP since Sir Oswald Mosley. He wanted a new seat to contest as a Labour candidate and, after failing to win the seats of Wentworth and Wythenshawe and Sale East, he was selected for the safe Labour seat of Newport East in Wales. The miners' leader Arthur Scargill stood against him under the Socialist Labour Party banner, but he easily held the seat for Labour.
After the election victory of 1997 he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment, becoming Minister for the Arts at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport the following year. He is also a member of the Privy Council. He was dropped from the government after the 2001 general election. He stood down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election. Jessica Morden was selected to replace him as candidate by the Constituency Labour Party.
On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer, and on 16 June 2005 the peerage was gazetted as Baron Howarth of Newport, of Newport in the County of Gwent.
Controversy
He was criticised when it was claimed that he and his partner, Baroness Hollis, live next door to each other but both claim expenses from the House of Lords.[1]
Personal life
He married Gillian Chance in 1967. They divorced in 1996 and they have two sons (born 1977 and April 1985) and two daughters (born 1974 and 1975).
References
- ^ Mail on Sunday 21 December 2008
External links
News items
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon 1983–1997 |
Succeeded by John Maples |
| Preceded by Roy Hughes |
Member of Parliament for Newport East 1997–2005 |
Succeeded by Jessica Morden |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Mark Fisher |
Minister for the Arts 1998–2001 |
Succeeded by Baroness Blackstone |
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