Editing Geoffrey Howe (section)

=== Foreign Secretary ===
[[File:De Duitse minister Genscher (l) in gesprek met de Engelse minister Howe, Bestanddeelnr 933-6243 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Howe (left) in conversation with [[West German]] counterpart [[Hans-Dietrich Genscher]], 1986]]
[[File:Reagan Contact Sheet C36201 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Howe with US president [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1986]]
[[File:Bush Contact Sheet P02176 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Howe with US president [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1989]]
After the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]], Thatcher reluctantly appointed Howe Foreign Secretary, a post he held for six years, the longest tenure since [[Sir Edward Grey]] in 1905–1916.{{sfn|Campbell|2003|p=226}} With "the quiet determination" applied in the Treasury, he set off on a tour of Warsaw Pact countries, interviewing communist leaders and sounding out opponents.{{sfn|Campbell|2003|p=276}} The trip opened the way to further discussions with Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom he believed Thatcher shared "extraordinary chemistry."{{sfn|Campbell|2003|p=380}} He later looked back on this period (1983–1985) as his happiest and most fruitful and productive, engaging with world leaders across the summit table, sharing decisions with Thatcher, including a notable encounter with [[Caspar Weinberger]] on 6 September 1982. Success with the Americans proved decisive in bringing about the [[end of Communism in Europe]].{{sfn|Campbell|2003|p=270}}

Howe was closely involved in the negotiations leading up to the 1984 [[Sino-British Joint Declaration]] on the future of [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], and developed a good working relationship with the [[United States Secretary of State]], [[George Shultz]], mirroring the close connection between Thatcher and President [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Langdon |first=Julia |author-link=Julia Langdon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/10/lord-howe-of-aberavon |title=Lord Howe of Aberavon obituary |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 October 2015 |access-date=11 March 2019 |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126173441/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/10/lord-howe-of-aberavon |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Howe's tenure was made difficult by growing behind-the-scenes tensions with the Prime Minister on a number of issues, first on South Africa, next on Britain's relations with the [[European Community]], and then in 1985 the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]]. For his staff, Howe was a respected boss; mild-mannered, polite and courteous, he was assiduous in his attention to detail. However, the human rights questions over [[South African sanctions]] and trade embargo, coupled with his deep concern over Thatcher's strident style in Europe, increasingly drove a stressful wedge between Nos. 10 and 11. They began to drift apart on policy objectives with fatal consequences for the Prime Minister's ambitions. Thatcher's dominant style contrasted with his emollience, patience and capacity for negotiation. Their differences were dated to the Westland Affair in 1986, when senior ministers almost forced her to resign, according to [[Douglas Hurd]]'s memoirs.{{sfn|Hurd|2003}}{{page needed|date=June 2018}}

In June 1989, Howe and his successor as chancellor, [[Nigel Lawson]], both secretly threatened to resign over Thatcher's opposition to proposed British membership of the exchange rate mechanism of the [[European Monetary System]]. Howe supported the ERM because of his general support of European integration and because he had become convinced as chancellor of the need for more exchange rate stability.<ref name="IndObit" />{{sfn|Howe|1994|p=448}} She turned increasingly for advice to her No.10 private secretary Charles Powell, a career diplomat who contrasted to Howe's mandarin-style. Howe remarked: "She was often exasperated by my tenaciously quiet brand of advocacy."{{sfn|Howe|1994|p=570}} His friends often wondered why he put up with her style for so long, but many considered him her successor. One historian has suggested that the government would have survived even the ructions over Europe had Howe remained her ally.{{sfn|Dell|1997|pages=449–89}}