Editing Kim Howells (section)

===Parliamentary career===
[[File:Kim Howells.jpg|thumb|left|Howells as a Foreign Office Minister in 2007]]
Howells entered the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in [[1989 Pontypridd by-election|a by-election in 1989]]. As a member of the Labour Opposition, he became successively an Opposition Spokesman on Trade and Industry, on Home Affairs, on Foreign Affairs and on Development and Co-operation. Howells suggested in 1996 that the word "socialism" ought to be "humanely phased out" of Labour Party policy documents.<ref name=indy>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/kim-howells-plainspeaking-minister-from-the-valleys-with-few-regrets-601267.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=Kim Howells: Plain-speaking minister from the Valleys with few regrets | first=Nigel | last=Morris | date=13 January 2003 | access-date=7 May 2010}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In 1995, [[Clause IV]] of the party's constitution was revised to state that "The Labour Party is a [[democratic socialist]] party".

He held a string of junior ministerial posts in various departments following the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 election]] until October 2008. From May 1997 to January 1998, he served as a [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] at the [[Department for Education and Employment]]. He then served in the Department for Trade and Industry until June 2001, and then as a junior minister with the trade and broadcasting brief at the [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]] until June 2003. He served as a [[Minister of State]] from June 2003 to September 2004, when he became [[Minister of State for Universities|Minister for Higher Education.]] He left that post when he was made Minister for the Middle East in the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] in May 2005. He remained a Minister of State at the Foreign Office after [[Gordon Brown]] became Prime Minister, but returned to the backbenches when Brown conducted a reshuffle in October 2008.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/person/2554/kim-howells Kim Howells: Electoral history and profile] from ''The Guardian''</ref>

After leaving the government Howells was appointed to take over from [[Margaret Beckett]] as chair of the [[Intelligence and Security Committee]], a committee of parliamentarians that oversees the work of Britain's intelligence and security agencies.

In 2003, he said the Labour government was trying to run capitalism more "efficiently" and "humanely".<ref name="indy"/> He is a member, and the former chairman, of [[Labour Friends of Israel]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Greene |first=Toby |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oh9Wctpp7TkC&pg=PT43 |title=Blair, Labour, and Palestine: Conflicting Views on Middle East Peace After 9/11 |date=2013 |page=43 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-4411-6147-5 |language=en}}</ref>

In February 2009, Howells was appointed to the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]], making him [[The Right Honourable]] Kim Howells, an appointment that coincided with the 20th anniversary of his election to Parliament.

In March 2009, it was revealed that Howells made one of the lowest expense claims among Welsh MPs, being 5th from bottom.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/03/31/what-they-cost-us-91466-23269922/|title=What they cost us|last=Livingstone|first=Tomos|date=31 March 2009|work=Wales Online|archive-date=13 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513111224/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/03/31/what-they-cost-us-91466-23269922/}}</ref>

On 18 December 2009, Howells announced that he would stand down at the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/wales_politics/8419651.stm|title=Pontypridd MP Kim Howells standing down at election|work=[[BBC News Online]]|date=18 December 2009}}</ref>

On 15 July 2011, Howells received an Honorary Doctorate for his contribution to Welsh and British politics from the [[University of Glamorgan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.glam.ac.uk/news/en/2011/jun/28/university-glamorgan-honours-contributions-public-/|title=University of Glamorgan honours contributions to public life, communities, science, literature, and sport: News Centre|work=glam.ac.uk|access-date=17 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716101945/http://news.glam.ac.uk/news/en/2011/jun/28/university-glamorgan-honours-contributions-public-/|archive-date=16 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Following comments made by Howells<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14097686|title=Foreign students 'security problem', says Kim Howells|last=Stevenson|first=John|date=10 July 2011|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> concerning the financial reasons for recruiting students from overseas and, particularly, the perceived security risk appertaining to students from Libya,  international students organised to demonstrate at the event. Howells withdrew from the ceremony at the last minute after pressure mounted on him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education-news/2011/07/15/ex-mp-withdraws-from-university-honour-ceremony-91466-29057011/|title=Ex-MP withdraws from university honour ceremony|date=14 July 2011|work=WalesOnline}}</ref> The NUS Wales Black Students' Campaign described Dr Howells' comments as "reckless" and said that the comments "could add to the barriers facing Black and Minority Ethnic students in Wales".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/black/2378/ |title=Students to Protest Howells Comments at Honorary Doctorate Ceremony |access-date=17 July 2011 |publisher=NUS Connect |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321181959/http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/black/2378/ |archive-date=21 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>