10 Facts About Denis Howell

Denis Howell was a councillor on Birmingham City Council between 1946 and 1956.

Denis Howell was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham All Saints from 1955 to 1959, and MP for Birmingham Small Heath from 1961 to 1992.

Denis Howell was born in Lozells, Birmingham, on 4 September 1923, the son of a gasfitter and storekeeper.

Denis Howell was educated at Gower Street School and Handsworth Grammar School, Birmingham, and became a clerk of the Clerical and Administrative Workers Union, rising to the position of President of its expanded successor, the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff from 1971 to 1989.

Denis Howell was Member of Parliament for Birmingham All Saints from 1955 to 1959, and for Birmingham Small Heath from the 1961 by-election until his retirement in 1992.

Denis Howell was charged by the Prime Minister with the task of persuading the nation to use less water, and was even ordered by No 10 to do a rain dance on behalf of the nation.

Denis Howell responded by inviting reporters to his home in Moseley in Birmingham, where he revealed he was doing his bit to help water rationing by sharing baths with his wife, Brenda.

Denis Howell published his memoirs, Made in Birmingham, in 1990, and on 1 July 1992 he was made a life peer as Baron Howell, of Aston Manor in the City of Birmingham.

Denis Howell underwent major heart surgery in 1989, but recovered sufficiently to pursue an active political career and often made his point known in the House of Lords.

Denis Howell died in Solihull Hospital, after suffering a heart attack at a charity fund-raising dinner at the National Motorcycle Museum in Bickenhill, West Midlands, on 19 April 1998, aged 74.