Michael Howard

Leader of the Conservative Party, U.K.

Michael Howard is the Leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom.

He was elected Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe in 1983. In 1984, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Solicitor General.

The following year, he entered the government as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry.

In 1987, Mr. Howard joined the Department of the Environment — first as Minister of State for Local Government, and then as Minister of State for Water and Planning.

From 1990 to 1993, he served in many other government positions, including Secretary of State for Employment, Secretary of State for the Environment and Home Secretary, a position he held for four years.

In 1997, Mr. Howard was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary until his retirement from the Front Bench in June 1999. He was invited back, and served in that position again from 2001 to November 2003.

Mr. Howard was born in 1941 and educated at Llanelli Grammar School and Peterhouse, Cambridge.