Rt Hon Lord Howell of Guildford
Deputy Leader of the Opposition
David Howell was the MP (Conservative) for Guildford from 1966-97.
In the House of Commons he was Parliamentary Secretary in the Civil Service Department, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Employment, the Northern Ireland Office, then Minister of State atthe Northern Ireland Office, and then the Department of Energy.
He was Secretary of State for Energy from 1979-81 and for Transport from 1981-83. He was also Chairman of the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Select Committee from 1987-97.
He was raised to the peerage as Baron Howell of Guildford, of Penton Mewsey in the County of Hampshire in 1997. In the House of Lords, he has been Opposition Spokesperson for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs since 2000 and he is also Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
He was a Member of the European Communities Sub-committee B (Energy, Industry and Transport) from 1997-99, and Chairman of the European Communities Sub-committee C (Defence and Foreign Policy) from 1999-2000.