View source for Geoffrey Howe

{{short description|British politician (1926–2015)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox deputy prime minister
| honorific_prefix  = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name              = The Lord Howe of Aberavon
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CH|PC|QC}}
| image             = Geoffrey Howe (1985).jpg
| image_upright     = .75
| alt               = photograph
| caption           = Howe in 1985
| office            = [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United&nbsp;Kingdom]]
| primeminister     = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start        = 24 July 1989
| term_end          = 1 November 1990
| predecessor       = [[William Whitelaw|The Viscount Whitelaw]] (''de{{nbsp}}facto''; 1988)
| successor         = [[Michael Heseltine]] (1995)
| office1           = {{ubl|[[Leader of the House of Commons]]|[[Lord President of the Council]]}}
| primeminister1    = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start1       = 24 July 1989
| term_end1         = 1 November 1990
| predecessor1      = [[John Wakeham]]
| successor1        = [[John MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market|John MacGregor]]
| office2           = [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]]
| primeminister2    = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start2       = 11 June 1983
| term_end2         = 24 July 1989
| predecessor2      = [[Francis Pym]]
| successor2        = [[John Major]]
| office3           = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| primeminister3    = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start3       = 4 May 1979
| term_end3         = 11 June 1983
| predecessor3      = [[Denis Healey]]
| successor3        = [[Nigel Lawson]]
{{collapsed infobox section begin |cont = y |[[Shadow Cabinet]] posts
| titlestyle        = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed             = yes
| office4           = [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| leader4           = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start4       = 18 February 1975
| term_end4         = 4 May 1979
| predecessor4      = [[Robert Carr]]
| successor4        = Denis Healey
| office5           = [[Shadow Secretary of State for Health and&nbsp;Social&nbsp;Services]]
| leader5           = [[Edward Heath]]
| term_start5       = 11 March 1974
| term_end5         = 18 February 1975
| predecessor5      = [[Keith Joseph]]
| successor5        = [[Norman Fowler]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin
| cont              = y
|Junior ministerial offices {{nobold|1970{{nbnd}}1974}}
| titlestyle        = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed             = yes
| office6           = [[Minister of State for Trade and&nbsp;Consumer&nbsp;Affairs]]
| primeminister6    = Edward Heath
| term_start6       = 5 November 1972
| term_end6         = 4 March 1974
| predecessor6      = [[Michael Noble, Baron Glenkinglas|Michael Noble]]
| successor6        = [[Eric Deakins]]
| office7           = [[Solicitor General for England and Wales]]
| primeminister7    = Edward Heath
| term_start7       = 23 June 1970
| term_end7         = 5 November 1972
| predecessor7      = [[Arthur Irvine]]
| successor7        = [[Michael Havers]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |last = y |Parliamentary offices
| titlestyle        = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed             = yes
| office8             = Member of the [[House of Lords]]
| status8             = [[Lord Temporal]]
| termlabel8          = [[Life peer]]age
| term_start8         = 30 June 1992
| term_end8           = 19 May 2015
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| office9           = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]
| constituency9     = [[Reigate (UK Parliament constituency)|Reigate]] (1970–1974)<br>[[East Surrey (UK Parliament constituency)|East Surrey]] (1974–1992)
| term_start9       = 18 June 1970
| term_end9         = 16 March 1992
| predecessor9      = [[John Vaughan-Morgan]]
| successor9        = [[Peter Ainsworth]]
| constituency10    = [[Bebington (UK Parliament constituency)|Bebington]]
| term_start10      = 15 October 1964
| term_end10        = 10 March 1966
| predecessor10     = [[Hendrie Oakshott]]
| successor10       = [[Edwin Brooks]]
| birth_name        = Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe
| birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1926|12|20}}
| birth_place       = [[Port Talbot]], Glamorgan, Wales
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2015|10|9|1926|12|20|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Idlicote]], Warwickshire, England
| party             = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| spouse            = {{marriage|[[Elspeth Howe|Elspeth Shand]]|28 August 1953}}
| children          = 3
| occupation        = {{hlist|Barrister|politician}}
| education         = {{ubl|[[Abberley Hall School]]|[[Winchester College]]}}
| alma_mater        = [[University of Cambridge]]<!--Trinity College doesn't award degrees, the University does-->
<!--Military service-->
| rank              = [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|Lieutenant]]
| branch            = [[British Army]]
| unit              = [[Royal Corps of Signals]]
| signature         = Geoffrey Howe signature.svg
}}

'''Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100%|CH|PC|QC}} (20&nbsp;December 1926&nbsp;– 9 October 2015), known from 1970 to 1992 as '''Sir Geoffrey Howe''', was a British barrister and politician who served as [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] from 1989 to 1990. A member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], he was [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s longest-serving [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] minister, successively holding the posts of [[chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|foreign secretary]], and finally [[leader of the House of Commons]], deputy prime minister and [[Lord President of the Council]]. His resignation from Cabinet on 1&nbsp;November 1990 is widely considered to have precipitated the [[1990 Conservative Party leadership election|leadership challenge]] that led to Thatcher's resignation three weeks later.

Born in [[Port Talbot]], Wales, Howe was educated at Bridgend Preparatory School, [[Abberley Hall School]], [[Winchester College]], and&nbsp;– after serving in the army as a [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]]&nbsp;– [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]], where he read law. He was [[called to the bar]] in 1952 and practised in Wales, after which he was elected as the Conservative [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Bebington (UK Parliament constituency)|Bebington]] in 1964, but lost his seat in 1966, returning to the bar. Howe became an MP again at the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 general election]] and represented various constituencies in the House of Commons until 1992. In [[Edward Heath]]'s [[Heath ministry|government]], he was [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|solicitor general]] and a [[Minister of State (United Kingdom)|minister of state]]; after [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]'s victory in 1974, Howe became the [[shadow chancellor of the Exchequer]] in [[Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher|Margaret Thatcher's shadow cabinet]].

Howe became Chancellor of the Exchequer upon Thatcher's victory in the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]], with his tenure characterised by a programme of radical policies with the stated intent to restore the [[public finance]]s, reduce inflation and liberalise the economy. As chancellor, Howe delivered five [[Budget of the United Kingdom|budgets]]. After the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]], Howe was appointed foreign secretary, serving six years. In 1989, Thatcher replaced Howe with [[John Major]], giving Howe the role of deputy prime minister. He resigned from the government on 1&nbsp;November 1990; in his [[resignation letter]], he criticised Thatcher's handling of [[United Kingdom membership of the European Union|relations with the EEC]] and further attacked Thatcher in his [[resignation speech]] to the Commons on 13&nbsp;November. The speech was widely seen as the key catalyst for the leadership challenge mounted by [[Michael Heseltine]] a few days later, which led to Thatcher's resignation and her replacement by Major.

Howe retired as an MP in 1992 and was made a [[life peer]] in June of that year. Following his retirement from the Commons, Howe took on several non-executive directorships in business and advisory posts in law and academia. He [[House of Lords Reform Act 2014|retired from the House of Lords]] in May 2015 and died in October of the same year, aged 88.

== Early life and education ==
Howe was born in 1926 at [[Port Talbot]], Wales, to Benjamin Edward Howe, a solicitor and coroner, and Eliza Florence (née Thomson) Howe. He was to describe himself as a quarter [[Scottish people|Scottish]], a quarter [[Cornish people|Cornish]] and half [[Welsh people|Welsh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2011-07-01a.1973.0&s=Scottish%2C+a+quarter+Cornish+and+half+Welsh#g1977.0|title=Devolution (Time) Bill [HL] – Second Reading|website=[[TheyWorkForYou]]|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=27 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227060504/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2011-07-01a.1973.0&s=Scottish,+a+quarter+Cornish+and+half+Welsh#g1977.0|url-status=live}}</ref> He had one older sister, Barbara, who died of meningitis just before he was born, and a younger brother, Colin.{{sfn|Howe|1994|p=4}}

He was educated at three [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private schools]]: at Bridgend Preparatory School in Bryntirion, followed by [[Abberley Hall School]] in Worcestershire and by winning an [[Exhibition (scholarship)|exhibition]] to [[Winchester College]] in Hampshire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-history/member/howe-geoffrey-1926|title=Howe, Geoffrey (b.1926)|work=[[The History of Parliament]]|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924212049/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-history/member/howe-geoffrey-1926|url-status=live}}</ref> Howe was not sporty, joining the debating society instead. It was during [[World War II|wartime]], so he was active in the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] at the school and set up a National Savings group. He was also a keen photographer and film buff. A gifted classicist, Howe was offered an exhibition to [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]] in 1945 but first decided to join the army. He did a six-month course in maths and physics. Then he did [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|national service]] as a [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] with the [[Royal Corps of Signals]] in East Africa, by his own account giving political lectures in [[Swahili language|Swahili]] about how Africans should avoid communism and remain loyal to "{{wt|en|bwana|Bwana}} [[George VI|Kingy George]]"; and also climbed [[Mount Kilimanjaro]].{{sfn|Howe|1994|p=16}}

Having declined an offer to remain in the army as a [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]], he [[Matriculation#United Kingdom|matriculated]] at Trinity Hall in 1948, where he read law and was chairman of the [[Cambridge University Conservative Association]], and on the committee of the [[Cambridge Union Society]].<ref name="IndObit">{{cite web |first=John |last=Barnes |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/geoffrey-howe-one-of-the-architects-of-the-thatcher-revolution-who-became-one-of-the-primary-factors-a6689811.html |title=Geoffrey Howe: One of the architects of the Thatcher revolution who became one of the primary factors in her downfall |newspaper=The Independent |date=11 October 2015 |access-date=11 March 2019 |archive-date=24 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924175937/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/geoffrey-howe-one-of-the-architects-of-the-thatcher-revolution-who-became-one-of-the-primary-factors-a6689811.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He was [[called to the bar]] by the [[Middle Temple]] in 1952 and practised in Wales. On 28 August 1953,<ref name="ODNB" /> Howe married [[Elspeth Howe|Elspeth Shand]], daughter of [[P. Morton Shand]]. They had a son and two daughters. At first, his legal practice struggled to pay, surviving thanks to a £1,200 gift from his father and a prudent marriage.{{sfn|Laybourne|2014|loc="Howe"}} He served on the Council of the Bar from 1957 to 1962 and was a council member of the pressure group [[JUSTICE]]. A high-earning barrister, he was made a [[Queen's Counsel|QC]] in 1965.<ref name="Telegraph obit">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Geoffrey Howe – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11924113/Geoffrey-Howe-obituary.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=12 October 2015 |page=29 |access-date=21 September 2016 |archive-date=10 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010044004/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11924113/Geoffrey-Howe-obituary.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Choosing a parallel career in politics, Howe stood as the Conservative Party candidate in his native [[Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberavon]] at the [[Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1950s|1955 and 1959]] [[United Kingdom general elections|general elections]], losing in what was a very safe [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] seat. He helped to found the [[Bow Group]], an internal Conservative think tank of "young modernisers" in the 1950s; he was one of its first chairmen in 1955–1956 and edited its magazine ''Crossbow'' from 1960 to 1962.<ref name="IndObit" /> In 1958, he co-authored the report ''A Giant's Strength'' published by the [[Inns of Court]] Conservative Association. The report argued that the unions had become too powerful and that their [[Trade Disputes Act 1906|legal privileges]] should be curtailed. [[Iain Macleod]] discouraged the authors from publicising the report.

[[Harold Macmillan]] believed that trade union votes had contributed towards the 1951 and 1955 election victories and thought that it "would be inexpedient to adopt any policy involving legislation which would alienate this support".{{sfn|Kynaston|2013|page=158}} Through a series of Bow Group publications, Howe advanced free market ideas, primarily inspired by the thinking of [[Enoch Powell]], which was later to be known as [[Thatcherism]].

== Early political career ==

=== Backbencher ===
Howe represented [[Bebington (UK Parliament constituency)|Bebington]] in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] from 1964 to 1966 with a much-reduced majority. He became a chairman of the backbench committee on social services, being quickly recognised for promotion to the front bench as HM Opposition spokesman on welfare and labour policy. He was defeated at the [[1966 United Kingdom general election|1966 general election]].

Howe returned to the bar. He participated in the 1966 [[Aberfan Disaster Tribunal]], representing the colliery managers.<ref>{{cite report |title=Report of the Tribunal appointed to inquire into the Disaster at Aberfan on October 21st, 1966 |chapter=Appendix A – Parties and their legal representatives |year=1967 |chapter-url=http://www.dmm.org.uk/ukreport/553-91.htm |publisher=[[Durham Mining Museum]] |access-date=2021-04-26 |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101064146/http://www.dmm.org.uk/ukreport/553-91.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> He sat as deputy chairman of Glamorgan [[quarter sessions]]. More politically significant was working on the Latey Committee, tasked with recommending a reduction in the voting age. In 1969, he chaired the committee of inquiry to investigate alleged abuse at [[Ely Hospital|Ely Mental Hospital]], Cardiff. On Howe's insistence, the inquiry's remit was expanded to cover the treatment of patients with [[intellectual disabilities]] within the National Health Service. The report greatly impacted mental health provision in the UK, beginning a process that led to the widespread closure of large mental hospitals.<ref>{{cite news |last=Drakeford |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Drakeford |title=Why the Ely inquiry changed healthcare forever |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/ely-inquiry-changed-healthcare-forever-2041200 |access-date=11 September 2020 |work=[[Wales Online]] |date=6 February 2012 |archive-date=14 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814023712/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/ely-inquiry-changed-healthcare-forever-2041200 |url-status=live }}</ref> But of more legislative importance were the Street Committee on racial discrimination, and Cripps Committee on discrimination against women, the reports of which helped the Labour government to change the law.

He returned to the House of Commons as the MP for [[Reigate (UK Parliament constituency)|Reigate]] from 1970 to 1974 and [[East Surrey]] from 1974 to 1992. In 1970, he was appointed [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor General]] in [[Edward Heath]]'s government and was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=45166|date=6 August 1970 |page=8679}}</ref> He was responsible for the [[Industrial Relations Act]] that caused immediate retaliatory union strikes. He was promoted in 1972 to Minister of State at the [[Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)|Department of Trade and Industry]], with a seat in the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] and [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]] membership, a post he held until Labour was returned to government in [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|March 1974]].<ref name="IndObit" />

=== Shadow Cabinet ===
In 1974 the Reigate boundary changes redrew the seat as East Surrey, and Heath appointed him as spokesman for social services. Howe contested the second ballot of the [[1975 Conservative Party leadership election|1975 Conservative leadership election]], in which [[Margaret Thatcher]] was elected as party leader. She saw him as a like-minded right-winger, and he was appointed [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. He masterminded the development of new economic policies embodied in an opposition mini-manifesto ''The Right Approach to the Economy''.<ref name = ODNB/>

At the same time, in response to the [[1976 sterling crisis]], Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer [[Denis Healey]] had requested a loan of $3.9&nbsp;billion from the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF); at the time, it was the largest loan request the IMF had ever received. In 1978 Healey said Howe's criticism was "like being savaged by a dead sheep".<ref>{{cite Hansard |house=House of Commons |date=14 June 1978 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1978/jun/14/economic-situation#S5CV0951P0_19780614_HOC_157 |title=Economic Situation |volume=951 |column=1027 |access-date=19 November 2014}}</ref> Nevertheless, when Healey was featured on ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1989, Howe appeared and paid warm tribute.{{cn|date=April 2020}}

== Thatcher government ==
{{Thatcherism|people}}

=== Chancellor of the Exchequer ===
With the Conservative victory in the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]], Howe became [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]].<ref>{{cite tweet |user=CrownOffFOIDs |number=1516766799391604742 |author=Crown Office |author-link=Crown Office in Chancery |accessdate=17 August 2022 |title=Letters patent appointing Geoffrey Howe as Chancellor of the Exchequer }}</ref> His tenure was characterised by an ambitious programme of radical policies intended to restore the public finances, reduce inflation and liberalise the economy. The shift from direct to indirect taxation, the development of a medium-term financial strategy, the abolition of [[exchange controls]] and the creation of tax-free enterprise zones were among the most important decisions of his chancellorship.

The first of five budgets, [[June 1979 United Kingdom budget|in 1979]], promised to honour Professor [[Hugh Clegg (industrial relations)|Hugh Clegg]]'s report that recommended a return to pre-1975 pay levels in real terms, conceding Howe's point about "concerted action".{{efn|Clegg was chairman for the Pay Comparability Commission.}} Rampant inflation had, however, eroded competitiveness, and devalued pensions, investments, and wages. Thatcher reminded him: "On your own head be it, Geoffrey, if anything goes wrong," commencing an often tense and querulous working relationship.<ref name="Telegraph obit" /> Thatcher's point was that the vast increase in (indirect) taxation and government spending (notably in public sector pay) in 1979 would lead to terrible consequences&nbsp;– which it did, as unemployment doubled. The financial policy tightened the money supply and restricted public sector pay, ultimately driving up inflation, at least in the short term, and unemployment in the medium term.

{{quote|Fundamentally we do believe in German principles of economic management and should be able to get ourselves alongside them&nbsp;... pronounce in favour of&nbsp;... providing greater stability as encouraging convergence on economic policies.<ref>Howe, "Sir Geoffrey Howe to Margaret Thatcher, 31 Oct. 1978, THCR 2/1/1/32", in {{harvnb|Moore|2013|p=405}}.</ref>}}

During Thatcher's first term, the government's poll ratings plummeted until the "[[Falklands Factor]]". Howe's [[1981 United Kingdom budget|1981 Budget]] defied conventional economic wisdom by slowing the inflation rate during a recession. At the time, his decision was fiercely criticised by 364 academic economists in a letter to ''[[The Times]]'', who contended that there was no place for de-stimulatory policies in the economic climate of the time, remarking the budget had "no basis in economic theory or supporting evidence". Many signatories were prominent members of the academic sphere, including [[Mervyn King, Baron King of Lothbury|Mervyn King]] who later became the [[Governor of the Bank of England]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://assets.cambridge.org/97811070/42933/excerpt/9781107042933_excerpt.pdf|title= The 1981 statement by 364 economists|location=Cambridge|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref>

Howe's claimed rationale for his proposals was that by reducing the deficit, which at the time was £9.3&nbsp;billion (3.6% GDP), and controlling inflation, long-term interest rates would be able to decline, thus re-stimulating the economy. The budget did reduce inflation from 11.9% in early 1981 to 3.8% in February 1983. Long-term interest rates declined from 14% in 1981 to 10% in 1983.<ref>{{cite web|first=Lawrence H.|last=Officer|title=What Was the Interest Rate Then?|work=MeasuringWorth|year=2008|url=http://www.measuringworth.org/interestrates|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=4 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904024944/http://www.measuringworth.org/interestrates/|url-status=live}}</ref> The economy slowly climbed out of recession.  However, already extremely high unemployment was pushed to a 50-year high of 12% by 1984, narrowly avoiding the figure reached during the [[Great Depression]] of 13.5%. Some have argued that the budget, although ultimately successful, was nevertheless over the top.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4803858.stm|title=Were all 364 economists wrong?|first=Stephanie|last=Flanders|work=BBC News|date=14 March 2006|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=29 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929054132/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4803858.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Specialist opinions on the question, expressed with 25 years' hindsight, are collected in an [[Institute of Economic Affairs]] report.<ref name="IEA_364allWrong">{{cite report|url=http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/upldbook310pdf.pdf|title=Were 364 Economists All Wrong?|publisher=Institute for Economic Affairs|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=17 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217133805/http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/upldbook310pdf.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Unlike [[Reaganomics]], his [[Macroeconomics|macro-economic policy]] emphasised the need to narrow the budget deficit rather than engage in unilateral tax cuts – "I never succumbed&nbsp;... to the mistaken interpretations of [[Laffer curve|Lafferism]], which have led some US policymakers  so far astray";{{sfn|Howe|1994|p=128}} despite these measures the budget deficit remained on average 3% of GDP during Howe's tenure. His macroeconomic policy was designed to liberalise the economy and promote supply-side reform. This combination of policies became one of the defining features of Thatcherism in power.{{efn|As noted, for example, by {{harvtxt|Lawson|2006|p=123}} and preceding.}}  However, by the time of his last budget, shortly before a general election, there were early signs of a recovery, which Howe used to justify a tax cut.<ref name="Telegraph obit" />

Documents released under the British government's 30-year rule in 2011 revealed that in the wake of the [[Toxteth riots]] in Liverpool in 1981, Howe had warned Thatcher "not to overcommit scarce resources to Liverpool", writing that "It would be even more regrettable if some of the brighter ideas for renewing economic activity were to be sown only on relatively stony ground on the banks of the Mersey. I cannot help feeling that the option of managed decline is one which we should not forget altogether. We must not expend all our limited resources in trying to make water flow uphill".<ref name="liverpool">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-16355281|title=Toxteth riots: Howe proposed 'managed decline' for city|work=BBC News|date=30 December 2011|access-date=2021-04-26|archive-date=28 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228202618/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-16355281|url-status=live}}</ref> Howe later stated that he had not advocated the "managed decline" policy and that he had merely been warning of the danger of concentrating excessive resources on one area of need.<ref name="liverpool" />

=== Foreign Secretary ===
[[File:De Duitse minister Genscher (l) in gesprek met de Engelse minister Howe, Bestanddeelnr 933-6243 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Howe (left) in conversation with [[West German]] counterpart [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], 1986]]
[[File:Reagan Contact Sheet C36201 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Howe with US president [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1986]]
[[File:Bush Contact Sheet P02176 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Howe with US president [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1989]]
After the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]], Thatcher reluctantly appointed Howe Foreign Secretary, a post he held for six years, the longest tenure since [[Sir Edward Grey]] in 1905–1916.{{sfn|Campbell|2003|p=226}} With "the quiet determination" applied in the Treasury, he set off on a tour of Warsaw Pact countries, interviewing communist leaders and sounding out opponents.{{sfn|Campbell|2003|p=276}} The trip opened the way to further discussions with Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom he believed Thatcher shared "extraordinary chemistry."{{sfn|Campbell|2003|p=380}} He later looked back on this period (1983–1985) as his happiest and most fruitful and productive, engaging with world leaders across the summit table, sharing decisions with Thatcher, including a notable encounter with [[Caspar Weinberger]] on 6 September 1982. Success with the Americans proved decisive in bringing about the [[end of Communism in Europe]].{{sfn|Campbell|2003|p=270}}

Howe was closely involved in the negotiations leading up to the 1984 [[Sino-British Joint Declaration]] on the future of [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], and developed a good working relationship with the [[United States Secretary of State]], [[George Shultz]], mirroring the close connection between Thatcher and President [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Langdon |first=Julia |author-link=Julia Langdon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/10/lord-howe-of-aberavon |title=Lord Howe of Aberavon obituary |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 October 2015 |access-date=11 March 2019 |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126173441/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/10/lord-howe-of-aberavon |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Howe's tenure was made difficult by growing behind-the-scenes tensions with the Prime Minister on a number of issues, first on South Africa, next on Britain's relations with the [[European Community]], and then in 1985 the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]]. For his staff, Howe was a respected boss; mild-mannered, polite and courteous, he was assiduous in his attention to detail. However, the human rights questions over [[South African sanctions]] and trade embargo, coupled with his deep concern over Thatcher's strident style in Europe, increasingly drove a stressful wedge between Nos. 10 and 11. They began to drift apart on policy objectives with fatal consequences for the Prime Minister's ambitions. Thatcher's dominant style contrasted with his emollience, patience and capacity for negotiation. Their differences were dated to the Westland Affair in 1986, when senior ministers almost forced her to resign, according to [[Douglas Hurd]]'s memoirs.{{sfn|Hurd|2003}}{{page needed|date=June 2018}}

In June 1989, Howe and his successor as chancellor, [[Nigel Lawson]], both secretly threatened to resign over Thatcher's opposition to proposed British membership of the exchange rate mechanism of the [[European Monetary System]]. Howe supported the ERM because of his general support of European integration and because he had become convinced as chancellor of the need for more exchange rate stability.<ref name="IndObit" />{{sfn|Howe|1994|p=448}} She turned increasingly for advice to her No.10 private secretary [[Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater|Charles Powell]], [[Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister]], a career diplomat who contrasted with Howe's mandarin-style. Howe remarked: "She was often exasperated by my tenaciously quiet brand of advocacy."{{sfn|Howe|1994|p=570}} His friends often wondered why he put up with her style for so long, but many considered him her successor. One historian has suggested that the government would have survived even the ructions over Europe had Howe remained her ally.{{sfn|Dell|1997|pages=449–89}}

=== Deputy prime minister ===
In July 1989, the then little-known [[John Major]] was unexpectedly appointed to replace Howe as Foreign Secretary. Howe became [[Leader of the House of Commons]], [[Lord President of the Council]] and [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]]. In the reshuffle, Howe was also offered, but turned down, the post of Home Secretary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14016127|title=Obituary: Geoffrey Howe|work=BBC News|date=10 October 2015|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322210130/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14016127|url-status=live}}</ref> Although attempts were made to belittle this aspect, Howe's move back to domestic politics was generally seen as a demotion, especially after Thatcher's press secretary [[Bernard Ingham]] belittled the significance of the deputy prime minister appointment, saying that the title had no constitutional significance, at his lobby briefing the following morning.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/yes-prime-minister-why-we-will-never-be-without-spin-doctors-2202522.html|title=Yes, Prime Minister: Why we will never be without spin doctors|last=McSmith|first=Andy|author-link=Andy McSmith|date=3 February 2011|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=8 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108072658/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/yes-prime-minister-why-we-will-never-be-without-spin-doctors-2202522.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Howe then had to give up the Foreign Secretary's country residence [[Chevening]]. The sceptical attitude towards Howe in Number 10 weakened him politically&nbsp;– even if it might have been driven to some degree by fear of him as a possible successor, a problem compounded by the resignation from the Treasury of his principal ally Nigel Lawson later in the same year. During his time as deputy prime minister, Howe made a series of coded calls on Thatcher to realign her administration, which was suffering rising unpopularity following its introduction of the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|poll tax]], as a "listening government".<ref name="IndObit" />

=== Relationship with Thatcher ===
Tensions began to emerge in 1982 during the [[Falklands War]] when Thatcher, on the advice of Harold Macmillan (who warned against including the Treasury), refused to appoint him to the [[war cabinet]].{{sfn|Vinen|2009|p=148}} During his first budget, Thatcher wrote to [[Adam Ridley]]: "The trouble with people like Geoffrey&nbsp;– lawyers&nbsp;– they are too timid."<ref>Ridley, "Interview with Sir Adam Ridley", in {{harvnb|Moore|2013|p=407}}.</ref> On the occasion of the general election victory of 1983, there were heated exchanges of views in No. 10 on her decision to move him to the Foreign Office. Howe was one of those who persuaded [[Michael Heseltine]] that on balance, it was probably better that he, rather than she, resign during the [[Westland affair]] in 1986. At the Scottish Party Conference in [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] in 1987, Howe spelt out his position for the [[European single market]] and the proposed Delors Plan (Thatcher having accepted the [[Single European Act]] in 1986<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11598879|title=Thatcher and her tussles with Europe|date=8 April 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=26 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326075038/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11598879|url-status=live}}</ref>). In the following year, Thatcher made her [[Bruges speech|speech at Bruges]] declining the offer to deepen the bureaucratic state towards a "[[Federalisation of the European Union|Federalist Superstate]]".

At the [[Intergovernmental Conference|Madrid inter-governmental conference]], the tensions were ratcheted higher as Thatcher emphatically renounced any advance in British policy over the European agenda for "[[European integration|ever closer union]]" of political and economic forces. Howe forced her to give conditions for entering the proposal for [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism|entry to the ERM]] in June 1989. Howe and Nigel Lawson threatened to resign, but she called his bluff by appointing John Major over his head. Howe resented having to give up the state residence of Chevening in Kent on being effectively demoted to Lord President of the Council. He deeply resented leaving the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a job he had always coveted. When Lawson resigned, it looked like a natural reshuffle, but Howe was frozen out of the inner circle. When Howe attended a meeting with the Queen, he found that Britain had joined the ERM before he had been informed about it&nbsp;– the ERM had been Howe's policy. The pound sterling was thus pegged to the [[Deutsche Mark]] instead of the US dollar. The consequence was that Britain's currency was pummelled into devaluation by a much stronger German economy&nbsp;– the option to leave cost Britain billions in 1992. But at the [[Rome Summit]] in October 1990, Thatcher was said to have exclaimed, in a fit of pique, "no, no, no" to the [[Delors Plan]] and repeated the government's policy at Paris summit on 18–20 November.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/watch-margaret-thatcher-explain-why-the-euro-is-a-terrible-idea-in-1990/274768/|title=Watch Margaret Thatcher Explain Why the Euro Is a Terrible Idea in 1990|first=Jordan|last=Weissmann|date=8 April 2013|magazine=The Atlantic|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=29 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929054123/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/watch-margaret-thatcher-explain-why-the-euro-is-a-terrible-idea-in-1990/274768/|url-status=live}}</ref> She also repeated [[No. No. No. (Margaret Thatcher)|the "no, no, no" message]] in the House of Commons on her return to Westminster. Howe had told [[Brian Walden]] (a former Labour MP) on ITV's ''[[Weekend World]]'' that the "government did not oppose the principle of a single currency", which was factually accurate – as its policy was that the "hard ECU" could evolve into a single currency, but that a single currency should not be imposed – but contrary to Thatcher's emerging view.

=== Resignation ===
{{main|Geoffrey Howe's resignation speech}}
Howe tendered his resignation on 1 November 1990. Sometimes mocked as "[[Mogadon]] man"&nbsp;– Mogadon being a well-known sleeping medication&nbsp;– Howe delivered a blow to Thatcher's government in full view of [[Prime Minister's Questions]] and a packed House of Commons on 13 November. Howe later contended that the [[Community Charge]] was incompetently implemented, but it was the direction of European policy rather than domestic rioting that tipped the balance. His dispute with Thatcher was over matters of substance more than ones of style; he advocated a move back towards a more centrist position on constitutional and administrative issues, such as taxation and European integration. Howe represented a moderate position in the party, being educated, lawyerly, and diligent; while direct, he was conciliatory and collegial in style.<ref name="Telegraph obit" />

Howe wrote a cautiously worded letter of resignation in which he criticised the Prime Minister's overall handling of UK relations with the European Community. After largely successful attempts by [[10 Downing Street]] to claim that there were differences only in style, rather than substance, in Howe's disagreement with Thatcher on Europe, Howe chose to send a powerful message of dissent. In his resignation speech in the Commons on 13 November 1990, he attacked Thatcher for running increasingly serious risks for the country's future. He criticised her for undermining the policies on EMU proposed by her chancellor and governor of the Bank of England.<ref>{{cite Hansard |house=House of Commons |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199091/cmhansrd/1990-11-13/Debate-1.html#Debate-1_head1 |access-date=2021-04-26 |title=Personal Statement |date=13 November 1990 |column=461}}</ref>

Howe offered a cricket simile for British negotiations on EMU in Europe: "It's rather like sending our opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find that before the first ball is bowled, their bats have been broken by the team captain."<ref name=cricket>{{cite news |title=Geoffrey Howe's most celebrated quotes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/10/geoffrey-howe-most-celebrated-quotes |access-date=1 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |agency=Press Association |date=10 October 2015}}</ref> The simile was written by his wife, Elspeth, who was an avid cricket fan and had watched Thatcher use a cricket metaphor on the news the night before Howe gave his speech.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwrQ4txIX-Q |title=The Speech That Brought Down Margaret Thatcher & Kick-Started Brexit |date=2024-08-30 |publisher=The i Paper |access-date=2025-02-01 |via=YouTube}}</ref> He ended his speech with an appeal to cabinet colleagues: "The time has come for others to consider their own response to the tragic conflict of loyalties, with which I have myself wrestled for perhaps too long."<ref name="Observer">{{cite news |last=Rawnsley |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Rawnsley |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/10/geoffrey-how-the-cabinet-ally-who-became-thatchers-assassin |title=Geoffrey Howe, the close cabinet ally who became Thatcher's assassin |newspaper=The Observer |date=10 October 2015 |access-date=11 March 2019 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330121820/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/10/geoffrey-how-the-cabinet-ally-who-became-thatchers-assassin |url-status=live }}</ref> A few days later, [[Cledwyn Hughes]], the Labour leader in the Lords, said: "I much regretted the departure of Sir Geoffrey Howe from his office and from the Government. Sir Geoffrey was an outstanding member of the Prime Minister's Administration since 1979 and his decision to leave reveals a fatal flaw in the management of our affairs."<ref>{{cite Hansard |speaker=Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos |house=House of Commons |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1990/nov/07/address-in-reply-to-her-majestys-most#column_12 |access-date=2021-04-26 |title=Address in reply to Her Majesty's most gracious Speech |date=7 November 1990 |column=12}}</ref>

Although Howe subsequently wrote in his memoir {{citeref|Howe|1994|''Conflict of Loyalty''|style=plain}} that his intention was only to constrain any shift in European policy by the Cabinet under the existing prime minister, his speech is widely seen as the key catalyst for the leadership challenge mounted by Michael Heseltine a few days later.<ref name="Observer" /> Although Thatcher won the most votes in the [[1990 Conservative Party leadership election|leadership election]], she did not win by a large enough margin to win outright. Subsequently, she withdrew from the contest on 22 November.<ref name="1992 elex" /> Five days later, Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major was elected party leader and thus became prime minister.<ref name="1992 elex" /> The change proved to be a positive one for the Tories, who had trailed Labour in most opinion polls by a double-digit margin throughout 1990 but soon returned to the top of the polls and won the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|general election in April 1992]].<ref name="1992 elex">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/basics/4393317.stm|title=1992: Tories win again against odds|work=BBC News|date=5 April 2005|access-date=11 October 2015|archive-date=22 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422045259/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393317.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Retirement ==
[[File:Geoffrey Howe (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Howe in 2011]]
Howe retired from the House of Commons in 1992 and was made a [[life peer]] on 30 June 1992 as Baron Howe of [[Aberavon]], of [[Tandridge]] in the [[County of Surrey]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=52981|date=3 June 1992|page=11255}}</ref> He published his memoirs {{citeref|Howe|1994|''Conflict of Loyalty''|style=plain}} (1994) soon after.  In the Lords, Howe continued to speak on a wide range of foreign-policy and European issues and led opposition to the Labour government's plans from 1997 to [[Reform of the House of Lords|convert the second chamber]] into a largely elected body<ref>Howe (<!--Author copyright, -->2 August 1999) abridged, "This House is built on solid ground", reprinted in {{harvnb|Oakland|2002|p=155}}.</ref>{{efn|Howe subsequently stated that the "last thing that people want to see here are clones of the clowns in the Commons", and served on the joint committee on the proposed legislation in 2002–03.}}&nbsp;– a position reiterated in the face of Coalition proposals in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |first=Toby |last=Helm |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jul/07/house-lords-reform-david-cameron |title=House of Lords reform: Tory grandees turn on David Cameron |newspaper=The Guardian |date=7 July 2012 |access-date=11 March 2019 |archive-date=29 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929054122/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jul/07/house-lords-reform-david-cameron |url-status=live }}</ref> He retired from the House of Lords on 19 May 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/retired-lords|title=Retired members of the House of Lords|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=8 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308095043/https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/retired-lords/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Former chancellor Geoffrey Howe retires from House of Lords |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32800604 |access-date=26 April 2021 |work=BBC News |date=19 May 2015 |archive-date=4 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204054742/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32800604 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following his retirement from the Commons, Howe took on several non-executive directorships in business and advisory posts in law and academia, including as an international political adviser to the US law firm [[Jones Day]], a director of [[GlaxoSmithKline]] and [[J.P. Morgan & Co.|J. P. Morgan]], and [[visitor]] at the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]] (SOAS), University of London.

His wife, Elspeth, a former chairman of the [[Broadcasting Standards Commission]], was made a life peer in 2001.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=56274 |date=13 July 2001 |page=8309 }}</ref> The Baroness Howe of Idlicote and her husband were among the few couples holding titles in their own right. Lord Howe was a patron of the [[UK Metric Association]] and the Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Rt Hon The Lord Howe of Aberavon QC |url=https://www.cfcconline.org.uk/news/rt-hon-lord-howe-aberavon-qc |access-date=26 April 2021 |publisher=Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council |date=10 October 2015 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426132038/https://www.cfcconline.org.uk/news/rt-hon-lord-howe-aberavon-qc |url-status=live }}</ref> Howe was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] (CH) in the [[1996 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |nolink=1|issue=54427|date=15 June 1996|page=5 |display-supp=y}}</ref> He was an honorary fellow of SOAS.<ref>{{cite web|title=SOAS Honorary Fellows|url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/fellows/|website=soas.ac.uk|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=1 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501014222/https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/fellows/|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1996 to 2006 he was president of the Academy of Experts and in November 2014 was made an honorary fellow of the organisation in recognition of his contribution to the development of methods of dispute resolution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.academyofexperts.org/news/contributions-expert-witness-legal-professions-recognised|title=Contributions to the Expert Witness & Legal Professions Recognised|website=academyofexperts.org|access-date=12 October 2015|archive-date=10 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710123111/http://www.academyofexperts.org/news/contributions-expert-witness-legal-professions-recognised|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Howe was a close friend of [[Ian Gow]], the former MP, parliamentary private secretary, and personal confidant of Margaret Thatcher. He delivered the principal appreciation of Gow at the latter's memorial service after the IRA murdered Gow in July 1990.<ref>{{cite web |first=Alistair |last=Lexden |url=http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2015/07/lord-lexden-remembering-ian-gow-mp-murdered-25-years-ago-today.html |title=Remembering Ian Gow MP, murdered 25 years ago today |work=[[ConservativeHome]] |date=30 July 2015 |access-date=11 March 2019 |archive-date=9 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409140656/https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2015/07/lord-lexden-remembering-ian-gow-mp-murdered-25-years-ago-today.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Obituarists noted how Howe was "warm and well liked by colleagues",<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article4582878.ece |title=Lord Howe of Aberavon |newspaper=[[The Times]] |url-access=subscription |date=2015-10-11 |access-date=11 March 2019 |archive-date=30 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030215812/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article4582878.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> with Nigel Lawson writing that he would be remembered by those who knew him "as one of the kindest and nicest men in politics"<ref>{{cite news |first=Nigel |last=Lawson |author-link=Nigel Lawson |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1618207.ece |title=Chancellor who turned UK round |newspaper=The Sunday Times |date=11 October 2015 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2021-04-26 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084433/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1618207.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref> who, according to [[Andrew Rawnsley]] of ''[[The Observer]]'', was frequently spoken of by fellow politicians "as one of the most honest and decent practitioners of their profession".<ref name="Observer" />

Howe died from a heart attack at his home in [[Idlicote]], Warwickshire, on 9 October 2015, at the age of 88.<ref name = ODNB/><ref name=death>{{cite news|title=Ex-Tory chancellor Lord Geoffrey Howe dies aged 88|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34495827|access-date=2021-04-26|work=BBC News|date=10 October 2015|archive-date=7 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007210440/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34495827|url-status=live}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Howe's dramatic resignation speech in the House of Commons formed the basis of [[Jonathan Maitland]]'s 2015 play ''Dead Sheep''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Billington|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Billington (critic)|title=Dead Sheep review – extremely entertaining bellwether politics|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/apr/06/dead-sheep-theatre-review-geoffrey-howe-margaret-thatcher|access-date=1 May 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|date=6 April 2015|location=London|archive-date=8 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408043113/http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/apr/06/dead-sheep-theatre-review-geoffrey-howe-margaret-thatcher|url-status=live}}</ref> Howe was interviewed in 2012 as part of [[The History of Parliament]]'s oral history project.<ref name='HoPHowe'>{{cite web|title=Oral history: HOWE, Geoffrey (1926–2015)|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-history/member/howe-geoffrey-1926-2015|work=The History of Parliament|access-date=14 July 2016|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924212049/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-history/member/howe-geoffrey-1926|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name='BLHowe'>{{cite web|title=Baron Howe of Aberavon interviewed by Mike Greenwood|url=http://cadensa.bl.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=sYqoHlUTQ2/WORKS-FILE/46780027/9|publisher=[[British Library Sound Archive]]|access-date=14 July 2016|archive-date=5 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305025559/http://cadensa.bl.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=sYqoHlUTQ2%2FWORKS-FILE%2F46780027%2F9|url-status=live}}</ref>

Howe has been depicted multiple times in film and television, including being portrayed by [[Paul Rogers (actor)|Paul Rogers]] in ''[[Thatcher: The Final Days]]'' (1991),<ref>{{cite web|website=[[The Scotsman]]|date=14 October 2013|last1=Steven|first1=Alasdair|title=Obituary: Paul Rogers, actor|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-paul-rogers-actor-1558102|archive-date=8 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708040837/https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-paul-rogers-actor-1558102|access-date=12 February 2025}}</ref> [[John Sessions]] in ''[[Margaret (2009 film)|Margaret]]'' (2009),<ref>{{cite web|website=[[BBC News]]|date=4 November 2020|title=John Sessions: Stephen Fry leads tributes to 'lovable' comedian|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54797823|access-date=12 February 2025}}</ref> [[Anthony Head]] in ''[[The Iron Lady (film)|The Iron Lady]]'' (2011),<ref>{{cite web|website=[[The Jewish Chronicle]]|date=5 January 2012|last1=Foreman|first1=Jonathan|title=Review: The Iron Lady|url=https://www.thejc.com/life/film/review-the-iron-lady-rw472vxy|archive-date=11 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211124905/https://www.thejc.com/life/film/review-the-iron-lady-rw472vxy|access-date=12 February 2025}}</ref> [[Paul Jesson]] in [[The Crown season 4|season four]] of ''[[The Crown (TV series)|The Crown]]'' (2020),<ref>{{cite web|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=5 June 2024|last1=Friedlander|first1=Whitney|title=How 'The Crown' re-created history while still respecting the women who suffered|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2024-06-05/crown-season-4-finale-diana-queen-elizabeth-margaret-thatcher|archive-date=22 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241222232436/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2024-06-05/crown-season-4-finale-diana-queen-elizabeth-margaret-thatcher|access-date=12 February 2025}}</ref> and [[Paul Higgins (actor)|Paul Higgins]] in ''[[Brian and Maggie]]'' (2025).<ref>{{cite web|website=[[Channel 4]]|date=21 January 2025|title=Brian and Maggie Press Pack
|url=https://www.channel4.com/press/press-pack/brian-and-maggie-press-pack|archive-date=24 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124122218/https://www.channel4.com/press/press-pack/brian-and-maggie-press-pack|access-date=12 February 2025}}</ref>

== Arms ==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Howe of Aberavon Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Chequy Or and Azure on a chief per pale Vert and Gules a portcullis chained Gold.
|crest = Upon a howe turfed Proper a wolf courant Sable mantled with a fleece of a sheep sans head holding in its mouth a remnant of cloth Gules.
|supporters = Dexter a dragon Gules armed and langued Azure gorged with a collar compony Sable and Argent the Sable charged with a crescent Ermine the Argent with a rose Gules barbed and seeded Proper holding in its exterior foreclaw a sword erect Argent hilt pommel and quillons Or sinister a winged lion Or armed and langued Gules similarly gorged resting its interior hind leg upon a clarion also Gold.
|compartment = Three howes turfed with daffodils and sprigs of oak fructed all Proper.
|motto = Tibi Fidelis (To Yourself True)<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2003 |page=820}}</ref>}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
<references>
<ref name=ODNB>{{cite ODNB
  | doi         = 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.110802
  | title       = Howe, (Richard Edward) Geoffrey, Baron Howe of Aberavon (1926–2015), politician
  | first       = Peter
  | last        = Riddell
  | author-link = Peter Riddell
  | date        = 10 January 2019
  }}</ref>
</references>

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin |30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book
  | first       = John
  | last        = Campbell
  | author-link = John Campbell (biographer)
  | year        = 2003
  | title       = Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady
  | volume      = 2
  | publisher   = Pimlico
  | isbn        = 978-0-7126-6781-4
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last        = Dell
  | first       = Edmund
  | author-link = Edmund Dell
  | year        = 1997
  | title       = The Chancellors: A History of the Chancellors of the Exchequer, 1945–1990
  | publisher   = HarperCollins
  | isbn        = 978-0-00-255558-6
  }}<!--covers his term as Chancellor-->
* {{cite book
  | last       = Howe
  | first      = Geoffrey
  | title      = Conflict of Loyalty
  | year       = 1994
  | publisher  = Macmillan
  | location   = London
  | isbn       = 978-0-333-59283-0
  | url        = https://archive.org/details/conflictofloyalt0000howe
  | url-access = registration
  | via        = [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book
  | first       = Douglas
  | last        = Hurd
  | author-link = Douglas Hurd
  | title       = Memoirs
  | publisher   = Little, Brown
  | year        = 2003
  | isbn        = 0-316-86147-2
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first       = David
  | last        = Kynaston
  | author-link = David Kynaston
  | year        = 2013
  | title       = Modernity Britain: Opening the Box 1957–1959
  | location    = London
  | publisher   = Bloomsbury
  | isbn        = 978-0-7475-8893-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first                   = Nigel
  | last                    = Lawson
  | author-link             = Nigel Lawson
  | year                    = 2006
  | contribution            = Changing the Consensus
  | contribution-url        = {{GBurl|id=f0Uv73xt6iYC|pg=PA123}}
  | contribution-url-access = limited
  | editor                  = Howard Davies
  | editor-link             = Howard Davies (economist)
  | title                   = The Chancellors' Tales: Managing the British Economy
  | place                   = London
  | publisher               = Polity Press
  | isbn                    = 978-0-7456-3885-0
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first     = Keith
  | last      = Laybourne
  | year      = 2014
  | title     = British Political Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary
  | publisher = University of Huddersfield Press
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first       = Charles
  | last        = Moore
  | author-link = Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham
  | year        = 2013
  | title       = Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands
  | volume      = 1
  | publisher   = Knopf Publishing Group
  | isbn        = 978-0-307-95894-5
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first      = John
  | last       = Oakland
  | year       = 2002
  | title      = Contemporary Britain: A Survey With Texts
  | url        = {{GBurl|id=q5qFAgAAQBAJ}}
  | url-access = limited
  | place      = London
  | publisher  = Routledge
  | isbn       = 978-1-134-74834-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last        = Vinen
  | first       = Richard
  | author-link = Richard Vinen
  | year        = 2009
  | title       = Thatcher's Britain: The Politics and Social Upheaval of the Thatcher Era
  | url         = {{GBurl|id=IZsXpZTCQKQC}}
  | url-access  = limited
  | publisher   = Simon & Schuster
  | publication-date = 2013
  | isbn        = 978-1-4711-2828-8
  }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
  | first     = Stephen
  | last      = Abbott
  | title     = And all My War is Done
  | publisher = The Pentland Press
  | year      = 1991
  | isbn      = 0-946270-99-6
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first       = Jonathan
  | last        = Aitken
  | author-link = Jonathan Aitken
  | title       = Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality
  | publisher   = Continuum book: A&C Black
  | year        = 2013
  | isbn        = 978-1-4088-3186-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first     = Charles
  | last      = Moore
  | title     = Margaret Thatcher: Everything She Wants
  | volume    = 2
  | publisher = Allen Lane
  | year      = 2015
  | isbn      = 978-0-7139-9288-5
  }}
* {{cite journal
  | first       = Peter
  | last        = Riddell
  | author-link = Peter Riddell
  | title       = The Thatcher Government
  | journal     = Nature
  | place       = London
  | year        = 1983
  | volume      = 303
  | issue       = 5917
  | page        = 458
  | doi         = 10.1038/303458a0
  | bibcode     = 1983Natur.303..458.
  | s2cid       = 4276172
  | doi-access  = free
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first1      = Alan
  | last1       = Sked
  | author-link = Alan Sked
  | author2     = Chris Cook
  | title       = Post-War Britain, A Political History
  | place       = London
  | year        = 1984
  }}{{ISBN needed|date=April 2021}}
* {{cite book
  | first      = Margaret
  | last       = Thatcher
  | title      = The Downing Street Years
  | title-link = The Downing Street Years
  | publisher  = HarperPress
  | year       = 2012
  | isbn       = 978-0-00-745663-5
  }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project auto}}
* {{C-SPAN|3952}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-geoffrey-howe | Geoffrey Howe }}
* {{NPG name}}
* [https://www.ft.com/content/b8948c9e-6f54-11e5-9b9e-690fdae72044 Obituary, ''Financial Times'', 11 October 2015] {{subscription required}}
* [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/10/lord-howe-of-aberavon Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 10 October 2015]
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/geoffrey-howe-one-of-the-architects-of-the-thatcher-revolution-who-became-one-of-the-primary-factors-a6689811.html Obituary, ''The Independent'', 11 October 2015]
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11924113/Geoffrey-Howe-obituary.html Obituary, ''The Telegraph'', 12 October 2015] {{subscription required}}
* [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article4582878.ece Obituary, ''The Times'', 11 October 2015] {{subscription required}}

{{Navboxes
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord President of the Council]]|years=1989–1990}}
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}}

{{UKDeputyPrimeMinisters}}
{{British Chancellors of the Exchequer}}
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