On This Day

10 November 1958

Happy birthday to David Howarth

Howarth cut his political teeth as a member of Cambridge City Council 1987-2004, leading the Liberal Democrat group from 1990 and becoming leader of the council when the Liberal Democrats took control in 2000. In the 2005 general election Howarth won Cambridge at his third attempt defeating the sitting Labour MP Anne Campbell and becoming the first Liberal to win the seat since 1906. In parliament Howarth spoke on local government and energy, serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice from 2007. In 2009 he announced that he would be standing down to return to academic life.