David Howarth

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For the historian and author, see David Armine Howarth.
David Howarth MP
David Howarth
Member of Parliament
for Cambridge
Incumbent
Assumed office 
5 May 2005
Preceded by Anne Campbell
Majority 4339
Liberal Democrat Shadow Solicitor General.
Incumbent
Assumed office 
2007
Born 10 November 1958 (1958-11-10) (age 49)
Nationality British
Political party Liberal Democrat
Alma mater University of Cambridge
Website David Howarth MP

David Ross Howarth (born November 10, 1958) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridge since 2005.

Contents

[edit] Education

David Howarth grew up on a council estate in Bloxwich, going to T. P. Riley School and Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall. Attending Clare College, Cambridge, he was President of his college's Student Association. He gained a BA in Law in 1981. He then won a scholarship to Yale Law School, gaining an LLM in 1983. In 1985, he gained an MPhil from Yale University in Sociology.

[edit] Political career

Howarth was a member of Cambridge City Council from 1987 to 2004, becoming its leader when the Liberal Democrats took control in 2000. In the 2005 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for Cambridge, defeating Labour MP Anne Campbell with a majority of 4,339 votes (and winning 44% of the votes cast). He is the first third party (i.e. not Labour or Conservative) candidate to win Cambridge since the 1906 general election.

Howarth served on the Liberal Democratic Party's Federal Executive and Federal Policy Committees during the 1990s. He was a leading opponent within the Lib Dems of closer links to the Labour Party after the 1997 General Election, bringing him into conflict with Paddy Ashdown.

In the Liberal Democrat leadership election following Charles Kennedy's resignation in early 2006, Howarth was active in supporting Chris Huhne's campaign.

His performances in Parliament were recognised in 2006 when he was shortlisted for the House Magazine's 'Backbencher of the Year award'. The citation read 'Brought MPs’ attention to the ‘hidden’ effects of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill'.

He is currently the Liberal Democrat Shadow Solicitor General. He has been a lecturer in Law and Economics at the University of Cambridge since 1988 where he has been a Fellow of Clare College since 1985. In 1992, he stood for the Cambridge seat, and in 1997, he stood for Peterborough.

[edit] Interests and membership

Howarth is a member of Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International, and enjoys playing squash, running, and watching football and opera. He is an avid reader of books on philosophy and international politics. In 1995 he won the Butterworth's Prize for best new legal textbook.

[edit] Personal life

David Howarth has two children and is married to Edna Howarth. Edna Howarth is a magistrate in Cambridge Magistrates' Court who was notably involved in the sentencing of Stephen Fry for a speeding offence.[1][2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ House of Commons (2008). Hansard, May 6 2008, Column 586
  2. ^ BBC News (2002). "Comic Fry keeps licence", December 23 2002. Accessed May 7 2008.

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Anne Campbell		 Member of Parliament for Cambridge
2005 – present		 Incumbent