Editing George Howarth (section)

==Parliamentary career==
{{BLP sources section|date=January 2023}}
The sitting Labour MP for Knowsley North, [[Robert Kilroy-Silk]], resigned from Parliament in 1986 mid term to follow a career with the [[BBC]]. In [[1986 Knowsley North by-election|the by-election on 13 November 1986]], Howarth was elected with a safe majority of 6,724. He subsequently became MP for Knowsley North & Sefton East in 1997 and Knowsley in 2010 as constituency boundaries were redrawn. In the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]], he received 85% of the vote, one of the greatest majorities for a British MP since the advent of universal suffrage.

He served as an opposition spokesperson on [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|Environment]] 1989–1994 and [[Home Office|Home Affairs]] 1994–1997. In 1997, he was appointed [[Parliamentary Under Secretary of State]] at the Home Office, and in 1999 to the same position at the [[Northern Ireland Office]].<ref name="parl">{{cite web|title=George Howarth|url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/mr-george-howarth/481|website=UK Parliament|access-date=27 March 2015}}</ref> He left the government in 2001. He has served on a wide variety of [[Select Committee (United Kingdom)|select committees]].<ref name="parl" /> He became a member of the Privy Council in 2005.

Howarth helped to enact the modern [[postal voting]] system.  By 1999, the system of postal and proxy voting for those unable to vote at polling stations was seen as cumbersome and complex. Howarth, as Minister of State at the Home Office, chaired the [[Working Party on Electoral Procedures]], which recommended that: absent voting should be allowed on demand and that the application and voting procedures for absent voting should be simplified. The [[Representation of the People Act 2000]] implemented the recommendations. The Representation of the People (England & Wales) Regulations 2001 introduced the changes to the absent voting arrangements from 16 February 2001. The main change was to allow postal voting on demand.

Howarth was appointed one of two temporary Deputy Speakers of the House after the 2015 Queens Speech, until the new deputy speakers were elected on 3 June 2015. Following the 2017 Queens Speech, Howarth again served until the new deputy speakers were elected on 28 June 2017 without standing for the position himself.

He supported [[Owen Smith]] in the failed attempt to replace [[Jeremy Corbyn]] in the [[2016 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|2016 Labour leadership election]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://labourlist.org/2016/07/which-mps-and-meps-have-nominated-owen-smith/|title=Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith|date=2016-07-21|website=LabourList|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-07-15}}</ref>

Howarth was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[2019 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=62666|supp=y|page=B2|date=8 June 2019}}</ref> He briefly acted as [[First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means]] at the start of the [[List of MPs elected in the 2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 Parliament]].

He announced in June 2023 that he would retire at the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thorp |first=Liam |date=5 June 2023 |title=George Howarth to stand down as Knowsley MP |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/george-howarth-stand-down-knowsley-27058472 |access-date=6 June 2023 |website=[[Liverpool Echo]]] |language=en}}</ref> He was succeeded as MP by [[Anneliese Midgley]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thorp |first=Liam |last2=Haygarth |first2=Dan |date=2024-07-05 |title=Liverpool and Merseyside results live as Labour wins landslide |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/general-election-results-2024-live-29464385 |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Liverpool Echo |language=en}}</ref>