David Howarth

For the historian and author, see David Armine Howarth.

David Howarth
Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
In office 18 December 2007 – 6 May 2010
Leader	Nick Clegg
Preceded by	David Heath
Succeeded by	Vacant
Liberal Democrat Shadow Solicitor General
In office 2 March 2006 – 18 December 2007
Leader	Nick Clegg
Member of Parliament for Cambridge
In office 5 May 2005 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Anne Campbell
Succeeded by	Julian Huppert
Personal details
Born	(1958-11-10) 10 November 1958 Wednesbury, Staffordshire, England
Political party	Liberal Democrat
Alma mater	University of Cambridge Yale University Yale Law School
Signature
Website	David Howarth MP

David Ross Howarth (born 10 November 1958) is a British academic who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2005–10.

He is the author of Textbook on Tort, Law as Engineering: Thinking about What Lawyers Do and articles in academic journals and chapters in academic books. He researches into a broad range of public and private law areas, conducting empirical research. He has engaged in policy making and leadership in public roles, previously as leader of the Cambridge City Council and currently as a UK Electoral Commissioner.

Education and academic career

David Howarth grew up on Mossley Estate, a council estate in Bloxwich in Staffordshire, going to Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall. Attending Clare College, Cambridge on an academic scholarship, he obtained a first class degree in Law and won the George Long Jurisprudence prize. He then won a Mellon Fellowship to study at the Yale Law School (gaining an LLM) and also in Yale University (gaining an MPhil in Sociology). He returned to Cambridge in 1985 to take up a series of academic posts. He has a long-standing commitment to teaching as well as research, introducing sociology and economics options to the undergraduate Law programme, and is Director of the MPhil in Public Policy, based in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge.

Political career

Howarth was leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the Cambridge City Council UK in 1990 when it was in third place, and then leading it to become the principal opposition on the council, eventually becoming Leader of the Council in 2000. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in Peterborough in 1997 and Cambridge in 2001. In the 2005 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for Cambridge, defeating Labour MP Anne Campbell with a majority of 4,339 votes (and winning 44% of the votes cast). He was the first Liberal or Liberal Democrat to win Cambridge since the 1906 general election.

His work as a legislator has informed his research interests, and subsequently has published on the legislative process (specifically the Backbench Business Committee), conducted empirical research 'The Reality of the Constitution'. Highlights of legislative scrutiny included Companies Bill and highlighting the problems with the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. Also the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, and various Criminal Justice Bills. Howarth also was Shadow Solicitor General and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice. He served on the Constitutional Affairs, Justice and Environmental Audit Select Committees.

He was one of the relatively few MPs not implicated in the 2009 expenses scandal, being singled out by The Guardian as one of the "Angels" for having "not claimed a penny in second home allowances" and commuting the 60 miles from Cambridge to Westminster.

On 5 November 2009, he announced that he would be standing down as MP for Cambridge at the next election, citing a desire to return to academia, which he did so after the General Election of June 2010. He was subsequently reinstated in his old job, as a Reader in Law and Land Economy at Cambridge University.

Since 1 October 2010, he has been an Electoral Commissioner, as the Liberal Democrats' nominee.

Personal life

David Howarth has two children and is married to Edna Howarth. Edna Howarth is a magistrate in Cambridge Magistrates' Court.

External links

• David Howarth MP official site
• David Howarth MP official Liberal Democrats profile
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou