Robert Lever Howarth (31 July 1927 – 2 April 2021) was a British politician from

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

who was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Bolton East from

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1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

Early life and career

Howarth was born in July 1927, the son of James Howarth and Bessie (née Pearson). He attended Bolton County Grammar School and then went to Bolton Technical College, where he trained as a draughtsman. He joined the

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History The history of t ...

in 1943 and the Labour Party in 1945. The following year, he became a member of the trade union Draughtsmen and Allied Technicians Union (DATA). He was a draughtsman with

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Local government

Popular within the local party, Howarth was elected President of Bolton Labour Party. He was made a School and Technical College Governor in 1955 and served on Bolton Town Council from 1958 to 1960, being Vice-Chairman of the Housing Committee. He was the Labour candidate for the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

-held seat of Bolton East at the 1960 by-election, but lost by 641 votes. However, he was reselected to fight the following general election. In 1963 he was again elected to Bolton Town Council, serving until 1966 and becoming Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee.

Parliament

Howarth won the Bolton East constituency at the 1964 general election, gaining the seat for Labour from the Conservatives, in an election which saw his party return to power nationally. He was re-elected in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

. Howarth did not rebel against the Labour Party whip, but was not appointed to government. He was Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party Aviation Committee.

After Parliament

At the 1970 general election, Howarth unexpectedly lost his seat by 471 votes. He became a Lecturer in Liberal Studies at Leigh Technical College that year, remaining in the post until 1976. From 1977 to 1987, when he retired, Howarth was Senior Lecturer in General Studies at Wigan College of Technology. He did not stand for Parliament again, although his old seat was again gained by Labour at the subsequent general election in February 1974. Howarth remained involved in local politics in Bolton, and was elected to

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council Bolton Council, also called Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is a Metropolitan Borough Council, one of ten in Greater Manchester and one of 36 in ...

in 1973 for Ward No. 7 (West). He was re-elected to this Ward in 1978, before standing for the Central Ward in 1980, where he was comfortably elected and remained a councillor for the rest of his tenure on the borough. Howarth was Leader of the Labour Group from 1975 to 2004, and

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of the Council from 1980 to 2004. In the 2004 election, following boundary changes, Howarth was selected for the new Crompton Ward, but along with the other Labour candidates in the Ward, he was defeated by the Liberal Democrats. Howarth was Deputy Chairman of

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from 1986 to 1987, becoming Chairman from 1987 to 1988, and again from 2002 to 2003. In 2001, Howarth was made a Freeman of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, and in 2004, he was made an Honorary

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of the Borough.

Personal life and death

In 1952, Howard married Josephine Mary Doyle; the couple had a son and daughter. He listed his recreations in ''

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'' as "gardening, reading, walking, films". Howarth died in April 2021 at the age of 93, after suffering from dementia.Tributes to former MP and council leader who was last surviving ‘freeman’ of Bolton
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References

Sources

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, ''Who's Who of British MPs'' (

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, 1981)
Famous Boltonians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howarth, Robert 1927 births 2021 deaths Councillors in Bolton Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Leaders of local authorities of England People from Bolton UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970