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Gerald Howarth
Sir James Gerald Douglas Howarth (born 12 September 1947) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldershot from 1997 until 2017, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992.
He was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence as Minister for International Security Strategy from May 2010 to September 2012 and is chairman of Conservative Way Forward. In 2016, he joined the political advisory board of Leave Means Leave. He stood down at the 2017 general election.
The son of James and Mary Howarth, he was educated at Bloxham School and the University of Southampton (BA Hons), and married Elizabeth Jane (née Squibb) in 1973; the couple have two sons and a daughter, Emily, who is married to Conservative MP James Cartlidge.
Howarth joined the Conservative party in 1964. and in March 1968 was present at the Grosvenor Square anti-Vietnam War demonstration, waving a US flag in support of the war, saying "I suspect that I am unique among those of us who were there in Grosvenor Square on that horrifying and frightening occasion in so far as mine was the only banner in support of the Americans. I took the precaution of ensuring that there was a thin blue line of men from the Metropolitan police between me and the hordes, and very wise I was, too". On 16 April 1970, Howarth demonstrated in favour of the abolition of exchange controls outside the Bank of England. On 14 January 1975 he wrote to The Times newspaper defending the conviction of Ricky Tomlinson and Des Warren over the Shrewsbury building strike.
A qualified private pilot, he was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as an acting pilot officer in 1968, serving until late 1969. Twenty years later, in 1988, he received the Britannia Airways Parliamentary Pilot of the Year Award. In 1971 Howarth was employed by the Bank of America International Ltd, where he remained until 1977, when he moved to the European Arab Bank. He then became the Syndication Manager for the Standard Chartered Bank for the next two years, after which he was first elected to parliament.[citation needed]
Howarth was General Secretary of the Society for Individual Freedom, a right-wing pressure group, from 1969 to 1971 after leaving university. He was also once an active member of the Conservative Monday Club while at university. From 1973 to 1977 he was Director of the Freedom Under The Law Group. He served as an elected councillor on the London Borough of Hounslow from 1982 to 1983, and sat on its Environmental Planning, and Finance and General Purposes Committees.
While South Africa was governed under the apartheid system, Howarth set up a "Hain prosecution fund" to raise money to privately prosecute anti-apartheid activist Peter Hain, later a Labour cabinet minister. The prosecution was sponsored by the Society for Individual Freedom, of which Howarth was the general secretary. According to John Mann, Howarth and Francis Bennion set up an organisation to counter the anti-apartheid movement called "Freedom Under Law".[non-primary source needed]
Howarth was first elected for the Cannock and Burntwood constituency in the Conservative landslide victory at the 1983 general election. Allegations of far-right sympathies were made against Howarth in a controversial January 1984 Panorama programme, "Maggie's Militant Tendency". Howarth and his close friend Neil Hamilton both sued the BBC and settled for £20,000 in damages in October 1986.[citation needed]
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Gerald Howarth
Sir James Gerald Douglas Howarth (born 12 September 1947) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldershot from 1997 until 2017, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992.
He was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence as Minister for International Security Strategy from May 2010 to September 2012 and is chairman of Conservative Way Forward. In 2016, he joined the political advisory board of Leave Means Leave. He stood down at the 2017 general election.
The son of James and Mary Howarth, he was educated at Bloxham School and the University of Southampton (BA Hons), and married Elizabeth Jane (née Squibb) in 1973; the couple have two sons and a daughter, Emily, who is married to Conservative MP James Cartlidge.
Howarth joined the Conservative party in 1964. and in March 1968 was present at the Grosvenor Square anti-Vietnam War demonstration, waving a US flag in support of the war, saying "I suspect that I am unique among those of us who were there in Grosvenor Square on that horrifying and frightening occasion in so far as mine was the only banner in support of the Americans. I took the precaution of ensuring that there was a thin blue line of men from the Metropolitan police between me and the hordes, and very wise I was, too". On 16 April 1970, Howarth demonstrated in favour of the abolition of exchange controls outside the Bank of England. On 14 January 1975 he wrote to The Times newspaper defending the conviction of Ricky Tomlinson and Des Warren over the Shrewsbury building strike.
A qualified private pilot, he was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as an acting pilot officer in 1968, serving until late 1969. Twenty years later, in 1988, he received the Britannia Airways Parliamentary Pilot of the Year Award. In 1971 Howarth was employed by the Bank of America International Ltd, where he remained until 1977, when he moved to the European Arab Bank. He then became the Syndication Manager for the Standard Chartered Bank for the next two years, after which he was first elected to parliament.[citation needed]
Howarth was General Secretary of the Society for Individual Freedom, a right-wing pressure group, from 1969 to 1971 after leaving university. He was also once an active member of the Conservative Monday Club while at university. From 1973 to 1977 he was Director of the Freedom Under The Law Group. He served as an elected councillor on the London Borough of Hounslow from 1982 to 1983, and sat on its Environmental Planning, and Finance and General Purposes Committees.
While South Africa was governed under the apartheid system, Howarth set up a "Hain prosecution fund" to raise money to privately prosecute anti-apartheid activist Peter Hain, later a Labour cabinet minister. The prosecution was sponsored by the Society for Individual Freedom, of which Howarth was the general secretary. According to John Mann, Howarth and Francis Bennion set up an organisation to counter the anti-apartheid movement called "Freedom Under Law".[non-primary source needed]
Howarth was first elected for the Cannock and Burntwood constituency in the Conservative landslide victory at the 1983 general election. Allegations of far-right sympathies were made against Howarth in a controversial January 1984 Panorama programme, "Maggie's Militant Tendency". Howarth and his close friend Neil Hamilton both sued the BBC and settled for £20,000 in damages in October 1986.[citation needed]