Robert Lever Howarth is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 politician from Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

 who was a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Bolton East

Bolton East (UK Parliament constituency)

Bolton East was a borough constituency in the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester . It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 from 1964

United Kingdom general election, 1964

The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...

 to 1970

United Kingdom general election, 1970

The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...

.

Earlier career

Howarth went to Bolton County Grammar School and then to Bolton Technical College where he trained as a draughtsman. He joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union in 1943 and the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 in 1945; in 1946 he became a member of the trade union Draughtsmen and Allied Technicians Union (DATA).

Municipal affairs

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 in the Bolton East byelection

Bolton East by-election, 1960

The Bolton East by-election, 1960 was a by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Bolton East in Lancashire on 16 November 1960. It was won by the Conservative Party candidate Edwin Taylor.- Vacancy :...

 in 1960, but was defeated; however, he was reselected to fight the following general election. In 1963 he was again elected to the Bolton Town Council, serving until 1966 and becoming Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee.

Parliament

Howarth won the Bolton East

Bolton East (UK Parliament constituency)

Bolton East was a borough constituency in the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester . It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 constituency in the 1964 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1964

The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...

, and was re-elected in 1966

United Kingdom general election, 1966

The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...

. 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.

Academic career

In the 1970 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1970

The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...

, Howarth unexpectedly lost his seat by 471 votes. He became a Lecturer in Liberal Studies at Leigh Technical College, and from 1977, Senior Lecturer in General Studies at Wigan College of Technology; he retired in 1987.

Howarth remained involved in local politics in Bolton and was elected to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council; he was Leader of the Labour Group from 1975, and then Leader of the Council from 1980. In the 2004 election

Bolton Council election 2004

Elections to Bolton Council were held on 10 June 2004. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003. The council stayed under no overall control. Overall turnout was 43.5%.-Election result:-Ward...

 he was defeated in Crompton ward. He was Chairman of Manchester Airport in 1987-88 and 2002-03. In 2001 he was made a Freeman of Bolton Borough.