Denis Howell

Lord Howell of Aston Manor PC
Minister of State for Sport
In office 1974–1979
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson James Callaghan
Preceded by	Eldon Griffiths
Succeeded by	Hector Monro
In office 1964–1970
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	The Viscount Hailsham
Succeeded by	Eldon Griffiths
Minister for Drought Minister for Floods
In office 1976
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Personal details
Born	Denis Herbert Howell 4 September 1923 Birmingham, United Kingdom
Died	19 April 1998 (aged 74) Solihull, United Kingdom
Citizenship	British
Political party	Labour
Children	Andrew Howell

Denis Herbert Howell, Baron Howell, PC (4 September 1923 – 19 April 1998) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a councillor on Birmingham City Council between 1946 and 1956. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham All Saints from 1955 to 1959, and MP for Birmingham Small Heath from the 1961 to 1992. In 1992, he was made a life peer and became a Member of the House of Lords.

Early life

Born in Birmingham, Howell was educated at Handsworth Grammar School, Birmingham and became a clerk and chairman of the Clerical and Administrative Workers Union standing orders committee. He was a Football League referee and keen cricketer.

Political career

Howell served as a councillor on Birmingham City Council 1946–56 and was Labour Group secretary from 1950.

He contested Birmingham King's Norton in 1951. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham All Saints from 1955 to 1959, and for Birmingham Small Heath from the 1961 by-election until his retirement in 1992. He held several ministerial posts under the Wilson and Callaghan governments, including Sport (1964–1970), Education and Science (1964–1969), Housing and Local Government (1969–1970), the Environment (1974–1979) and for Sport and Recreation (1974–1979).

On 28 October 1974, his wife and son escaped unharmed when an IRA bomb exploded in their Ford Cortina on the driveway of the family home in Birmingham.

In 1976, during Britain's driest summer in over 200 years, he was made Minister for Drought (but nicknamed 'Minister for Rain'^[1]). Days later, heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding, and he was made Minister of Floods.^[2] Additionally, during the harsh winter of 1978–1979 he was appointed Minister for Snow.^[3]

Later life

He published his memoirs, Made in Birmingham, in 1990, and on 1 July 1992 he was made a life peer as Baron Howell, of Aston Manor in the City of Birmingham.^[4]

He died on 19 April 1998 in Solihull, West Midlands, England, aged 74.

Legacy

At The University of Birmingham, the building where The Institute for Cancer Studies department is based is named the Denis Howell Building. (Building B5 on this map http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/university/edgbaston-campus-map.pdf)

Family

His son, Andrew Howell, was elected to Birmingham City Council for Moseley and Kings Heath Ward serving as Chair of the Education Committee and as Deputy Leader.

References

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5049366.stm
2. Was 1976 all it's cracked up to be?
3. "Sunny Jim's legacy hasn't lost its shine", Times Educational Supplement, 15 April 2005
4. The London Gazette: no. 52984. p. 11419. 7 July 1992.

Sources

• The Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Ltd, 1951, 1966 & 1987
• Obituary in The Daily Telegraph
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Denis Howell