Sir George Howarth obituary

George Howarth, a former Labour minister who recently passed away at the age of 77, served as a Member of Parliament for 38 years and held elected positions in Merseyside for over fifty years. He was known for his belief that the essence of politics is winning power to serve those who elected you, a conviction that earned him both respect in Parliament and affection in his local community.

Howarth’s life and career closely mirrored the archetype of the committed Labour MP. Born and raised in the constituency he would later represent, he was the son of a plumber and joined the Labour party as a teenager. At just 22, he was elected as a councillor, where he chaired housing and finance committees and led the local party. His background included apprenticing as a fitter and working as an engineer before returning to education and qualifying as a further education teacher. Though not one to seek the limelight in Westminster, his strong relationship with the residents of Knowsley exemplified the role of a diligent constituency MP.

His parliamentary career featured notable moments, including serving as a Home Office junior minister from 1997, shortly after Tony Blair became Prime Minister. During this time, Howarth chaired a committee tasked with modernising the postal voting system, resulting in easier access to absentee ballots under the Representation of the People Act 2000. Subsequently, from 1999 to 2001, he served as a parliamentary undersecretary in Northern Ireland. In 2005, he was made a member of the Privy Council following his appointment to the intelligence and security committee, where he served for ten years. He was knighted in 2019 but cherished most the honor of receiving the Freedom of Knowsley in 2022.

Howarth’s early political journey began locally in 1971 when he was elected to the Huyton borough council, which later became Knowsley. In the mid-1980s, following the resignation of Robert Kilroy-Silk as MP for Knowsley North, Howarth’s selection as candidate sparked controversy, as the Labour national executive blocked the local party’s preferred choice. Despite facing a challenging by-election campaign without local party backing and battling a back injury, he secured the seat and went on to represent the constituency with increasing majorities over the years. By 2017 and 2019, he had achieved record-breaking election victories, including one of the largest Labour majorities recorded since universal suffrage.

Beyond his formal roles, Howarth was well-regarded for his kindness, straightforwardness, and mentoring of younger MPs. Known for his sharp wit and numerous anecdotes, he was once humorously described by a former journalist as “looking like a serial killer,” to which he quipped that “appearances are not always deceptive.” An active advocate on several causes, he supported working-class communities’ access to opportunities, the Hillsborough campaign, and the Shakespeare North Playhouse project in his hometown. He championed the creation of a veterans’ affairs department and tirelessly backed campaigns related to type 1 diabetes in memory of his daughter Sian, who passed away at 24 due to complications from the illness. Married in 1977 to Julie Rodgers, daughter of a fellow Labour MP, he is survived by her and their two sons

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