Editing Geoffrey Howe (section)

== 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>