Richard Howitt (politician)

Richard Stuart Howitt (born 5 April 1961) is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England (formerly Essex South) from 1994 to 2016. A member of the Labour Party, he has represented Petersfield on the Cambridgeshire County Council since 2021.

Background

Howitt was born in Reading, Berkshire. He was brought up in a single-parent family, in a council house, and went to a comprehensive school.<ref name="webbio">Template:Cite web</ref> He graduated with a BA degree in Philosophy, politics and economics from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 1982 and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from the University of Hertfordshire.<ref name="EuroParl">Template:Cite web</ref>

After leaving university, he worked for four years in the voluntary sector and eight years for a disability organisation.

Political activity

Howitt served as a councillor on Harlow District Council from 1983 to 1995, including three years as Leader of the council.<ref name="EuroParl"/> Here he spearheaded some groundbreaking work assessing local government's environmental impact.<ref name="publicfinance.co.uk">Template:Cite web</ref> He was the Labour Party candidate in Billericay in the 1987 general election.<ref name="EuroParl"/>

Howitt was elected as an MEP to the European Parliament, representing the Essex South constituency, and served for the East of England constituency from 1999 to 2016.

Howitt is a key architect of the EU's non-financial information directive, one of the biggest transformations in corporate disclosure anywhere in the world. He was rapporteur on corporate reporting-related issues, including social responsibility, for many years. On this topic he has been described as a "trailblazer".<ref name="publicfinance.co.uk"/>

As lead-MEP on corporate responsibility, Mr Howitt has represented the EU on many missions worldwide, travelling extensively in Asia, Africa and the Americas. He has represented European interests in numerous international initiatives, including the UN Business and Human Rights Forum and the OECD Forum on Responsible Business Conduct.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Howitt helped to negotiate a £22 million European Union fund to help finance food banks in the UK, but in 2013 the UK government refused to accept the funds. Howitt stated: Template:Quote

Howitt was a member of the Labour Party's National Policy Forum between 1994 and 2016.<ref name="EuroParl"/> He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In September 2016, Howitt announced his resignation from the European Parliament to become chief executive of the International Integrated Reporting Council. The Labour candidate next on the party list from the 2014 European Elections, Alex Mayer, replaced him as MEP.<ref name=labourlist-20160905>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=huntspost-20161027>Template:Cite news</ref>

In May 2021, he was elected as a member of Cambridgeshire County Council. He is Chair of the Adults and Health Committee.<ref> title= Membership of Adults and Health Committee url = https://cambridgeshire.cmis.uk.com/ccc_live/Committees/tabid/62/ctl/ViewCMIS_CommitteeDetails/mid/381/id/64/SelectedTab/Members/Default.aspx</ref>

External links

• Official website
• Profile at European Parliament website
• HOWITT, Richard Stuart, Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012