Michael Howard

This page is about the UK politician. For others of the same name, see Michael Howard (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable Michael Howard (born July 7, 1941) is the current Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. He became leader of the Conservative Party on November 6 2003, having been the only candidate for the job after Iain Duncan Smith lost a vote of confidence on October 29.

Howard was born in Llanelli, Wales as the son of a Romanian Jewish shopkeeper. The family name of Hecht was anglicised to become Howard. He attended Peterhouse, Cambridge and was President of the Cambridge Union Society in 1962. A barrister, he became a QC in 1982 and won his seat in the general election of 1983, entering Parliament as member for Folkestone and Hythe.

Many find humor in his unique pronunciation of certain words, such as "skeyuill", for school, and "Incredibull", for incredible.

He became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry in 1985, Minister for Local Government in 1987, Minister for Water and Planning in 1989, Secretary of State for Employment in 1990, Secretary of State for the Environment in 1992 and Secretary of State for the Home Department in 1993. His tenure as Home Secretary was especially notable for his tough approach to crime, summed up by the soundbite "Prison works". Howard repeatedly clashed with many judges and prison reformers as he sought to clamp down on crime through a series of tough measures. He was regarded by many as the toughest Home Secretary since Sir William Joynson-Hicks.

After the 1997 resignation of John Major, he and William Hague announced they would be running on the same ticket, with Howard as leader and Hague as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, the day after they agreed this, Hague decided to run his own campaign. Howard also stood but his campaign was marred by a high profile controversy surronding his record as Home Secretary.

Ann Widdecombe, his former junior minister in the Home Office, made a statement to Parliament about the dismissal of then Director of the Prison Service, Derek Lewis and famously remarked "there is something of the night about him", a bitter and widely quoted comment that fatally damaged his 1997 bid for the Conservative Party leadership. The comment was taken as a 'bitchy' reference to his dour demeanour, which she was implying was sinister and almost Dracula-like, as well as linking in to his Romanian ancestry, and was interpreted by some as having anti-semitic tones, given Howard's Jewish faith. Howard's non-standard pronunciation of the word people, concluding on a 'Dark L', adds depth to the caricature for students of phonetics.

A further embarrassment came when a television interviewer, Jeremy Paxman, relentlessly asked him the same question (14 times in all) during an edition of the Newsnight programme. Asking whether Howard had intervened when Derek Lewis sacked a prison governor, Paxman asked: "Did you threaten to overrule him?" Howard did not give a direct answer, instead repeatedly saying that he "did not overrule him", and ignoring the "threaten" part of the question. The BBC subsequently revealed that the prolonged period where the question was repeated was in fact a 'filler' to extend the interview, as technical reasons meant the next segment of that night's Newsnight was not ready for broadcast. While some praised the interview for journalistic toughness, others, including some in the BBC, criticised it as a theatrical stunt. The interview remains one of the most famous in broadcasting history. In the longer term its precise impact on Howard's reputation remains disputed. Some suggest that it highlighted his arrogant refusal to answer the question; others suggest it highlighted his toughness and refusal to be bullied into doing something he did not want to do, even by one of Britain's toughest interviewers.

When the first round of polling occurred in the leadership election, Howard came a disappointing fifth out of five candidates with the support on only twenty-three MPs. He withdrew from the race and endorsed William Hague, who was eventually elected leader. Howard served as Shadow Foreign Secretary for the next two years but in 1999 he retired from the Shadow Cabinet though remaining an MP.

After the 2001 General Election Howard was recalled to frontline politics when the Conservatives' new leader Iain Duncan Smith appointed him as Shadow Chancellor. Howard proved highly successful in this job and after Duncan Smith was removed from the leadership by the parliamentary party, Howard was elected unopposed as leader of the party in 2003. Many commentators feel that he is more successful as Conservative Leader than Iain Duncan Smith was, although many commentators suspect his close association with the former government of Margaret Thatcher could limit his popularity.

Michael Howard was named Parliamentarian of the Year for 2003 by The Spectator and Zurich UK. This was in recognition of his performance at the despatch box in his previous role as Shadow Chancellor.

Michael Howard was famously named as the 'other man' in the high profile divorce case of former 1960s model Sandra Paul. She and Howard subsequently married. Howard has a son Nicholas, 27, and a daughter, Larissa, 26.

• List of the core beliefs of the Conservative Party of 2004
• Famous political quotations
• Non-denial denial

• Michael Howard official site
• Conservative Party official profile of the Leader
• Guardian Unlimited Politics Ask Aristotle: Michael Howard