Editing Gerald Howarth (section)

===Second spell (1997–2017)===
He is a supporter of the British [[defence industry]], when, speaking in support of the industry, he told delegates at a meeting in 2009 sponsored by the Defense Industries Council that "People who decry the defence industry should hang their heads in shame because it is a noble industry". He also told the meeting that, should his party attain government, he could accept the title of "Minister for War" reflecting his belief that wider Government should recognise that Great Britain is at war and support the armed forces appropriately.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Crawl to arms |newspaper=[[Private Eye]] |location= London |issue=1247|date=16 October 2009 |page=9}}</ref>

In 2001, Howarth was one of several famous faces duped into appearing on the Channel Four ''[[Brass Eye]]'' television programme; this was the "Paedogeddon" spoof episode, where he agreed to read out anti-paedophile warnings.<ref>Hugh Muir (7 November 2007).[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/nov/07/2 "Diary"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513113334/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/nov/07/2 |date=13 May 2016 }}. ''The Guardian''. London.</ref>

In a programme in 2008 about the fall of [[Margaret Thatcher]], Howarth told [[Michael Portillo]] that he was "gutted" when Thatcher resigned in November 1990.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

At the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]] Howarth was joined in the Commons by his son-in-law, [[James Cartlidge]], the Conservative MP for [[South Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency)|South Suffolk]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2015-06-01b.344.0 |title=House of Commons debates |publisher=TheyWorkForYou |date=1 June 2015 |access-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922064246/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2015-06-01b.344.0 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 20 April 2017, Howarth announced he would not be seeking re-election in the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]] and now resides in Suffolk.<ref name="Lloyd2017"/>