Lord Michael Howard's Biography

Politician, Michael Howard was born on 7 July 1941 in Gorseinon, South Wales.

He was educated at Llanelli Grammar School. At 15, although South Wales was the Labour Party's heartland, Michael Howard joined the Young Conservatives. He continued his studies at Peterhouse College, Cambridge. At University he was President of the Union in 1962.

Michael Howard was called to the Bar in 1964, becoming a QC in 1982 and a Recorder in 1986.

He was chairman of the Bow Group from 1970-1971, and although selected to stand for the Conservatives as early as 1966, it was not until 1983 that Michael Howard became MP for Folkestone and Hythe.

In the 1980s Michael Howard held ministerial jobs at the DTI and DoE, and from 1990-1992 he was Secretary of State for Employment. Howard had a brief stint at the Environment and then from 1993 to 1997 he had his famous period as a right-wing Home Secretary.

When the Conservatives lost the 1997 election to Tony Blair's New Labour, Michael Howard stood for the leadership of the Conservative Party. His bid on this occasion was hampered by his deputy at the Home Office, Ann Widdecombe, saying he had 'something of the night' about him, and he came fifth out of the 5 candidates.

Michael Howard held the post of shadow Foreign Secretary (1997-1999) and he returned to the front bench, under the leadership of Iain Duncan Smith, as Shadow Chancellor (2001-2003).

In November 2003 Howard was elected unopposed the leader of the Conservative Party. In the May 2005 General Election the Conservatives gained seats, but Labour was still returned with an overall majority. On May 6th, Michael Howard announced his intention to stand down as leader of the Conservatives once they had a revised mechanism in place to select the new party leader.

In 1975 Michael Howard married Sandra Clare Paul, a model in the sixties. Michael Howard wooed Sandra with a copy of Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night.

He lists his recreations in Who's Who as watching football (Swansea, Liverpool) and baseball (New York Mets). Michael Howard's favourite record to take to a desert island is '(Everything I do) I Do It for You' by Bryan Adams.

In March 2006, Michael Howard announced that he was standing down as an MP at the next election.

In 2010, he became a Conservative life peer, taking the title Baron Howard of Lympne.

On 24 June 2022, Michael Howard called upon Boris Johnson to resign as Prime Minister.