Kim Howells
Encyclopedia
Kim Scott Howells is a British
Labour Party
politician, who was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Pontypridd
from 1989
to 2010, and held a number of ministerial positions
within the Government.
, Wales
and raised in Penywaun
near Aberdare
in the Cynon Valley
, he is a former pupil of Mountain Ash Grammar School.
Howells went to Hornsey College of Art
,which now is Middlesex University
, where he was active in the famous May 1968 student occupation, and was the first protester to breach the Metropolitan Police
cordon at the demonstration against the Vietnam War
outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square
in 1968.
Howell featured as a student leader at Hornsey College of Art
in director John Goldschmidt's film 'Our Live Experiment is worth more than 3,000 Textbooks', made for Granada Television and shown on the ITV Network.
Attended Cambridge College of Arts and Technology 1971-74 where he studied Jt Hons Degree and was awarded a 2:1 degree which allowed him to follow post-graduate studies in history. Howells later obtained a Ph.D.
from the University of Warwick
in 1979, for a thesis entitled A view from below : tradition, experience and nationalism in the South Wales coalfield, 1937-1957.
from college, Howells worked as a researcher and editor for the South Wales Miner, before becoming a South Wales National Union of Mineworkers official and local representative of the Communist Party of Great Britain
. Howells ran the NUM Pontypridd office which co-ordinated the South Wales miners' efforts during the UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
. A serious incident during the national dispute occurred on Howells' patch at the end of November 1984, when taxi driver David Wilkie
was killed when two striking miners dropped a concrete block off a local bridge onto Wilkie's taxi, which was taking a strike-breaking miner to work. On being told of the incident in a telephone call from a reporter of the South Wales Echo
, Howells rode his bicycle to the NUM offices.
After allegations that he hid evidence associated with the death of Wilkie, and an investigation by South Wales Police
, Howells in 2004 commented in a BBC Wales
documentary that when he heard the news, he thought "hang on, we've got all those records we've kept over in the NUM offices, there's all those maps on the wall, we're gonna get implicated in this". He then destroyed a large number of papers, because he feared a police raid on the union offices. He has commented that same day that the attack by the strikers was a result of pressure to get the miners to return to work.
After the miners' strike, and the closure of 29 of the 30 NCB pits in South Wales, Howells became a writer and presenter for television
and radio
, and a college lecturer.
(revised in 1995) of the party's constitution states that "The Labour Party is a democratic socialist
party").
He held a string of junior ministerial posts in various departments following the 1997 election
, until October 2008. From January 1997 to January 1998, he served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
at the Department for Education and Employment. He then served in the Department for Trade and industries until June 2001, and then as a junior minister with the trade and broadcasting brief at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
until June 2003. He served as a Minister of State
from June 2003 to September 2004, when he became Minister for Higher Education. He left that post when he was made Minister for the Middle East in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
in May 2005. He remained a Minister of State at the Foreign Office after Gordon Brown
became Prime Minister, but returned to the backbenches when Brown conducted a reshuffle in October 2008.
Upon leaving government, Howells was appointed to take over from Margaret Beckett as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee
, a committee of parliamentarians that oversees the work of Britain's intelligence and security agencies.
In 2003, he said the Labour government was trying to run capitalism
more "efficiently" and "humanely". He is a longstanding member, and former chairman, of Labour Friends of Israel
, “a Westminster-based lobby group working within the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel” (Labour Friends of Israel press briefing, 2003). Howells' public statements on Israel/Palestine have typically echoed the official Israeli government position.
In February 2009, Howells was appointed to the Privy Council
, making him the Right Honourable Kim Howells, an appointment that coincided with the 20th anniversary of his election to Parliament.
In March 2009, it was revealed that Howells made one of the lowest claims on expenses of Welsh MPs, being 5th from bottom.
On 18 December 2009, Howells announced that he would stand down at the 2010 general election.
On 15 July 2011 Dr Howells received an Honorary Doctorate for his contribution to Welsh and British Politics from the University of Glamorgan. Following comments made by Dr Howells, international students organised to demonstrate at the ceremony. Howells pulled out at the last minuet after mounting pressure from students. The NUS Wales Black Students' Campaign described Dr Howells' comments as 'reckless' and said that the comments 'could add to the barriers facing Black and Minority Ethnic students in Wales'.
MP after he mocked Mr Flynn's attitude towards the UK's Afghan Drug policy as being equivalent to:
On 22 November 2006 it was announced that on a recent visit to Iraq his helicopter was involved in an incident as it left the city of Basra
with witnesses claiming shots were fired at the aircraft.
, he criticised the Turner Prize
by writing a note that read:
Throughout his Parliamentary career he was unafraid to speak his mind and often sparked strong criticism from those he criticised or offended. During a House of Commons debate on licensing laws he said that the idea of "listening to three Somerset
folk singers sounds like hell".
On the Today programme, while visiting Iraq
on 11 March 2006 as Foreign Office minister, he commented in an interview:
On 22 July 2006 Howell criticised Israel's bombardment of Lebanon
while on a visit to Beirut
, breaking with the Prime Minister
and Foreign Secretary's less critical line, saying:
He once described the royal family
as "a bit bonkers".
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician, who was the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Pontypridd
Pontypridd (UK Parliament constituency)
-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:-Elections in the 1980s:-Elections in the 1970s:...
from 1989
Pontypridd by-election, 1989
The Pontypridd by-election, 1989 was a by-election held in Wales on 23 February 1989 for the House of Commons constituency of Pontypridd in Mid Glamorgan....
to 2010, and held a number of ministerial positions
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
within the Government.
Biography
Howells is the son of the late Glanville Howells, a Communist lorry driver, and of Joan Glenys Howells. Born in Merthyr TydfilMerthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and raised in Penywaun
Penywaun
Penywaun is a village in the Cynon Valley situated between Aberdare and Hirwaun, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.-Background:The population of Penywaun is approximately 3,300....
near Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
in the Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley
The Cynon Valley , is a famous former coal mining valley within the South Wales Valleys of Wales. The Cynon Valley lies between the other mining Valley of Rhondda and the iron industrial Valley of the Merthyr Valley. Its main towns are Aberdare located North of the Valley and Mountain Ash located...
, he is a former pupil of Mountain Ash Grammar School.
Howells went to Hornsey College of Art
Hornsey College of Art
Hornsey College of Art is a former college centred in Crouch End, London, England. Since 2008, the building has been a part of Coleridge Primary School, upon its expansion to four form entry...
,which now is Middlesex University
Middlesex University
Middlesex University is a university in north London, England. It is located in the historic county boundaries of Middlesex from which it takes its name. It is one of the post-1992 universities and is a member of Million+ working group...
, where he was active in the famous May 1968 student occupation, and was the first protester to breach the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
cordon at the demonstration against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the exclusive Mayfair district of London, England. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from their surname, "Grosvenor".-History:...
in 1968.
Howell featured as a student leader at Hornsey College of Art
Hornsey College of Art
Hornsey College of Art is a former college centred in Crouch End, London, England. Since 2008, the building has been a part of Coleridge Primary School, upon its expansion to four form entry...
in director John Goldschmidt's film 'Our Live Experiment is worth more than 3,000 Textbooks', made for Granada Television and shown on the ITV Network.
Attended Cambridge College of Arts and Technology 1971-74 where he studied Jt Hons Degree and was awarded a 2:1 degree which allowed him to follow post-graduate studies in history. Howells later obtained a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
in 1979, for a thesis entitled A view from below : tradition, experience and nationalism in the South Wales coalfield, 1937-1957.
Professional career
On return home to South WalesSouth Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
from college, Howells worked as a researcher and editor for the South Wales Miner, before becoming a South Wales National Union of Mineworkers official and local representative of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
. Howells ran the NUM Pontypridd office which co-ordinated the South Wales miners' efforts during the UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
The UK miners' strike was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...
. A serious incident during the national dispute occurred on Howells' patch at the end of November 1984, when taxi driver David Wilkie
Killing of David Wilkie
David Wilkie was killed during the miners' strike in the United Kingdom, when two striking miners dropped a concrete block from a footbridge onto his taxi whilst driving a strike breaking miner to his workplace. The attack caused a widespread revulsion at the extent of violence in the dispute...
was killed when two striking miners dropped a concrete block off a local bridge onto Wilkie's taxi, which was taking a strike-breaking miner to work. On being told of the incident in a telephone call from a reporter of the South Wales Echo
South Wales Echo
The South Wales Echo is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Cardiff, Wales and distributed throughout the surrounding area.The newspaper was founded in 1884 and was based in Thomson House, Cardiff city centre. It is published by Media Wales Ltd , part of the Trinity Mirror group...
, Howells rode his bicycle to the NUM offices.
After allegations that he hid evidence associated with the death of Wilkie, and an investigation by South Wales Police
South Wales Police
South Wales Police is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. Its headquarters are based in Bridgend.Covering Wales' capital city, Cardiff, as well as Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea, and the western South Wales Valleys, it is the largest police force in Wales in terms of population,...
, Howells in 2004 commented in a BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
documentary that when he heard the news, he thought "hang on, we've got all those records we've kept over in the NUM offices, there's all those maps on the wall, we're gonna get implicated in this". He then destroyed a large number of papers, because he feared a police raid on the union offices. He has commented that same day that the attack by the strikers was a result of pressure to get the miners to return to work.
After the miners' strike, and the closure of 29 of the 30 NCB pits in South Wales, Howells became a writer and presenter for television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, and a college lecturer.
Parliamentary career
Howells entered the House of Commons in a by-election in 1989. He excelled in the Labour Opposition, becoming Opposition Spokesman on Trade and Industry, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Development and Co-operation. Howells suggested in 1996 that the word "socialism" ought to be "humanely phased out" of Labour party policy documents. (Clause IVClause IV
Clause IV historically refers to part of the 1918 text of the British Labour Party constitution which set out the aims and values of the party. Before its revision in 1995, its application was the subject of considerable dispute.-Text:...
(revised in 1995) of the party's constitution states that "The Labour Party is a democratic socialist
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
party").
He held a string of junior ministerial posts in various departments following the 1997 election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, until October 2008. From January 1997 to January 1998, he served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
at the Department for Education and Employment. He then served in the Department for Trade and industries until June 2001, and then as a junior minister with the trade and broadcasting brief at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
until June 2003. He served as a Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
from June 2003 to September 2004, when he became Minister for Higher Education. He left that post when he was made Minister for the Middle East in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
in May 2005. He remained a Minister of State at the Foreign Office after Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
became Prime Minister, but returned to the backbenches when Brown conducted a reshuffle in October 2008.
Upon leaving government, Howells was appointed to take over from Margaret Beckett as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee
Intelligence and Security Committee
The Intelligence and Security Committee is a committee of parliamentarians appointed by the Prime Minister to oversee the work of the Intelligence machinery of the United Kingdom...
, a committee of parliamentarians that oversees the work of Britain's intelligence and security agencies.
In 2003, he said the Labour government was trying to run capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
more "efficiently" and "humanely". He is a longstanding member, and former chairman, of Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel is a lobby group promoting support within the British Labour Party for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel. It also seeks to strengthen ties between the British and the Israeli Labour party...
, “a Westminster-based lobby group working within the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel” (Labour Friends of Israel press briefing, 2003). Howells' public statements on Israel/Palestine have typically echoed the official Israeli government position.
In February 2009, Howells was appointed to the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
, making him the Right Honourable Kim Howells, an appointment that coincided with the 20th anniversary of his election to Parliament.
In March 2009, it was revealed that Howells made one of the lowest claims on expenses of Welsh MPs, being 5th from bottom.
On 18 December 2009, Howells announced that he would stand down at the 2010 general election.
On 15 July 2011 Dr Howells received an Honorary Doctorate for his contribution to Welsh and British Politics from the University of Glamorgan. Following comments made by Dr Howells, international students organised to demonstrate at the ceremony. Howells pulled out at the last minuet after mounting pressure from students. The NUS Wales Black Students' Campaign described Dr Howells' comments as 'reckless' and said that the comments 'could add to the barriers facing Black and Minority Ethnic students in Wales'.
Parliamentary challenges
In February 2006 he was the subject of a complaint from Paul FlynnPaul Flynn (politician)
Paul Philip Flynn is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Newport West since the 1987 general election. He was born in Cardiff of Welsh/Irish parentage....
MP after he mocked Mr Flynn's attitude towards the UK's Afghan Drug policy as being equivalent to:
On 22 November 2006 it was announced that on a recent visit to Iraq his helicopter was involved in an incident as it left the city of Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
with witnesses claiming shots were fired at the aircraft.
Ministerial Career
Howells' Ministerial career was varied, being a Minister of Culture, Transport, Communications and Alcohol Licensing. Notable legislation he introduced included the Licencing Act 2003 and the Communications Act 2003, the latter of which which introduced offenses of ‘Improper use of public electronic communications network’, ‘dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services’, which have been used to prosecute trolling and jailbreakingPersonality
Howells is known to be outspoken. In 2002 as a junior Minister at the Department for Culture, Media and SportDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
, he criticised the Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
by writing a note that read:
Throughout his Parliamentary career he was unafraid to speak his mind and often sparked strong criticism from those he criticised or offended. During a House of Commons debate on licensing laws he said that the idea of "listening to three Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
folk singers sounds like hell".
On the Today programme, while visiting Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
on 11 March 2006 as Foreign Office minister, he commented in an interview:
On 22 July 2006 Howell criticised Israel's bombardment of Lebanon
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
while on a visit to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, breaking with the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
and Foreign Secretary's less critical line, saying:
He once described the royal family
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
as "a bit bonkers".
External links
- Wales Labour Party - Kim Howells official profile (archived copy)
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Kim Howells MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Kim Howells MP
- The Public Whip - Kim Howells voting record
- Flickr Album - Photographs
- BBC News report of Turner Prize comments 31 October 2002
- Report on his comments about the Monarchy and the Somerset Folk Singers. Also details an exchange with Paul Flynn on drugs policy in which Howells became abusive.
- Minister admits Iraq is 'a mess', BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 11 March 2006 (audio)