Denis Herbert Howell, Baron Howell (4 September 1923 – 19 April 1998) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. Birmingham has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropo ...

between 1946 and 1956. He was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham All Saints from 1955 to 1959, and MP for

Birmingham Small Heath Birmingham Small Heath was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Small Heath area of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created fo ...

from 1961 to 1992. In 1992, he was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and became a Member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early life

Denis Howell was born in

Lozells Lozells is a loosely defined inner-city area in West Birmingham, England. It is centred on Lozells Road, and is known for its multi-racial population. It is part of the ward of Lozells and East Handsworth and lies between the districts of Hands ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, on 4 September 1923, the son of a gasfitter and storekeeper. He was educated at Gower Street School and

Handsworth Grammar School King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, formerly and commonly Handsworth Grammar School, is a grammar school that admits boys from the age of eleven (as well as girls in the sixth form, since September 1997). The school was founded i ...

, Birmingham, and became a clerk of the Clerical and Administrative Workers Union, rising to the position of President of its expanded successor, the

Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff The Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) was a British trade union which represented clerical and administrative employees. History The Clerks Union was formed in 1890 and later was renamed as the Nationa ...

(APEX) from 1971 to 1989. In 1951 he graduated as a linesman in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, and was a

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

referee from 1956 until 1966. In addition to being a lifelong

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

fan, he was a keen cricketer.

Political career

Howell claimed that his first memory was of sitting on his father's knee at a general strike meeting in 1926. He joined the Labour Party in 1942, serving as a councillor on

1946–56 and as 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

from the 1961 by-election until his retirement in 1992. Under the Wilson and Callaghan governments, he held the role of

Minister for Sport A ministry of sports or ministry of youth and sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. It is led by the minister of s ...

at the

Department of Education and Science An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

(1964–1969),

Ministry of Housing and Local Government The Ministry of Housing and Local Government was a United Kingdom government department formed following the Second World War, covering the areas of housing and local government. It was formed, as the Ministry of Local Government and Planning, ...

(1969–1970) and Department for the Environment (1974–1979), as well as a series of Environment roles (1976–1979). On 28 October 1974, his wife and son escaped unharmed when an IRA bomb exploded in their

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although of ...

on the driveway of the family home in Birmingham. In the last week of August 1976, during Britain's driest summer in over 200 years, he was made Minister for Drought (but nicknamed 'Minister for Rain'). Howell was charged by the Prime Minister with the task of persuading the nation to use less water, and was even ordered by No.10 to do a rain dance on behalf of the nation. Howell responded by inviting reporters to his home in

Moseley Moseley ( ') is an affluent suburb in south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. It is located within the eponymous Moseley ward of the constituency of Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (UK Parliament constituency), Hall Green and ...

, where he revealed he was doing his bit to help water rationing by sharing baths with his wife, Brenda. Days later, heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding, and he became known as "Minister for Floods". Then, during the harsh winter of 1978–1979 he was appointed Minister for Snow. Along with

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby (''née'' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in ...

, he caused controversy in 1977 by appearing on the picket line during the

Grunwick dispute The Grunwick dispute was a British industrial dispute involving trade union recognition at the Grunwick Film Processing Laboratories in Chapter Road, Dollis Hill in the London suburb of Willesden, that led to a two-year strike between 1976 and 197 ...

in North London, the scene of violent trade union protests about factory working conditions.

Later life

He published his memoirs, ''Made in Birmingham'', in 1990, and on 1 July 1992 he was made a

as Baron Howell, of

Aston Manor Aston Manor was a local government district of Warwickshire, England in what is now northern Birmingham, in the West Midlands, from the 19th century to 1911, when it was added to Birmingham. The Aston Manor Local Board of Health was formed in 1 ...

in the City of

. Howell underwent major heart surgery in 1989, but recovered sufficiently to pursue an active political career and often made his point known in the House of Lords. He died in Solihull Hospital, after suffering a heart attack at a charity fund-raising dinner at the National Motorcycle Museum in

Bickenhill Bickenhill is a small village in the civil parish of Bickenhill and Marston Green, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands county, England, on the eastern fringe of the West Midlands conurbation. Bickenhill is also a ward a ...

, West Midlands, on 19 April 1998, aged 74.

Legacy

The CRUK Institute for Cancer Studies at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

is named after Howell.

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. Another son, Michael, worked as a procurement manager for

Highways England National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards us ...

. His youngest son, David, was killed in a car accident on 22 May 1986 in what he described in his memoirs as the "most devastating day" in his family's lives. His Daughter Kate Howell worked in education in Birmingham.

References

Sources

*''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'',

Times Newspapers Ltd News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...

, 1951, 1966 & 1987
Obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph''
* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Denis 1923 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English memoirists Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff-sponsored MPs Councillors in Birmingham, West Midlands English Football League referees English football referees Government ministers of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 People educated at Handsworth Grammar School People from Solihull UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 Life peers created by Elizabeth II