Richard Stuart Howitt(born 5 April 1961) is a BritishLabour Partypolitician, and a former[1]Chief Executive Officer of theInternational Integrated Reporting Council.For five years prior to becoming CEO of the IIRC, he acted as a voluntary IIRC Ambassador, promoting Integrated Reporting within the policy and business communities. He took over from the previous CEO Paul Druckman.[2]He wasMember of the European Parliament(MEP) for 22 years between 1994 and 2016.
Richard Howitt | |
|---|---|
 Richard Howitt speaking at the 2016 Labour Party Conference | |
| Cambridgeshire County Councillor for Petersfield | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Linda Jones |
| Majority | 878 (22.5%) |
| Member of the European Parliament for theEast of England Essex South(1994-1999) | |
| In office 9 June 1994 – 2 November 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Alex Mayer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 April 1961 Reading,Berkshire |
| Political party | PES/Labour |
| Children | Ollie Howitt-Sutton, Georgia Howitt-Sutton |
| Alma mater | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford |
Background
editHowitt was born inReading, Berkshire.He was brought up in a single-parent family, in a council house, and went to a comprehensive school.[3]He graduated with aBA degreeinPolitics, Philosophy and EconomicsfromLady Margaret Hall, Oxfordin 1982 and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from theUniversity of Hertfordshire.[4]
After leaving university, he worked for four years in the voluntary sector and eight years for a disability organisation.
Political activity
editHowitt served as a councillor onHarlowDistrict Council from 1983 to 1995, including three years as Leader of the council.[4]Here he spearheaded some groundbreaking work assessing local government's environmental impact.[5]He was the Labour Party candidate inBillericayin the1987 general election.[4]
Howitt was elected as anMEPto theEuropean Parliament,representing theEssex Southconstituency, and served for theEast of Englandconstituency from 1999 to 2016.
Howitt is a key architect of theEU's non-financial information directive,one of the biggest transformations in corporate disclosure anywhere in the world. He was rapporteur on corporate reporting-related issues, including social responsibility, for many years. On this topic he has been described as a "trailblazer".[5]
As lead-MEP on corporate responsibility, Mr Howitt has represented the EU on many missions worldwide, travelling extensively in Asia, Africa and the Americas. He has represented European interests in numerous international initiatives, including the UN Business and Human Rights Forum and the OECD Forum on Responsible Business Conduct.[6]
Howitt helped to negotiate a £22 millionEuropean Unionfund to help financefood banks in the UK,but in 2013 the UK government refused to accept the funds. Howitt stated:
It is very sad that our government is opposing this much-needed help for foodbanks on the basis that it is a national responsibility, when in reality it has no intention of providing the help itself. The only conclusion is that Conservative anti-European ideology is being put before the needs of the most destitute and deprived in our society.[7]
Howitt was a member of the Labour Party'sNational Policy Forumbetween 1994 and 2016.[4]He supportedOwen Smithin the2016 Labour Party leadership election.[8]
In September 2016, Howitt announced his resignation from the European Parliament to become chief executive of theInternational Integrated Reporting Council.The Labour candidate next on the party list from the 2014 European Elections,Alex Mayer,replaced him as MEP.[9][10]
InMay 2021,he was elected as a member ofCambridgeshire County Council.He is Chair of the Adults and Health Committee.[11]
References
edit- ^"International Integrated Reporting Council CEO Richard Howitt steps down".Accounting Today.20 June 2019.Retrieved22 June2019.
- ^"IIRC appoints Richard Howitt as new chief executive - Public Finance".publicfinanceinternational.org.
- ^"biography".Richard Howitt.Retrieved18 April2012.
- ^abcd"Richard Howitt".European Parliament.Retrieved18 April2012.
- ^ab"Reporting lines: interview with International Integrated Reporting Council chief Richard Howitt | Public Finance".publicfinance.co.uk.Retrieved16 February2017.
- ^"Richard Howitt | Integrated Reporting".integratedreporting.org.Retrieved16 February2017.
- ^Watt, Nicholas (17 December 2013)."Government under fire for rejecting European Union food bank funding".The Guardian.Retrieved22 May2016.
- ^Smith, Mikey; Bloom, Dan (20 July 2016)."Which MPs are nominating Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest?".Mirror.Retrieved10 November2018.
- ^Conor Pope (5 September 2016)."Senior MEP Richard Howitt to quit Brussels for financial services job".LabourList.Retrieved8 November2016.
- ^Sophie Day (27 October 2016)."East of England MEP bids farewall to European Parliament role".The Hunts Post.Retrieved8 November2016.
- ^title= Membership of Adults and Health Committee url =https://cambridgeshire.cmis.uk /ccc_live/Committees/tabid/62/ctl/ViewCMIS_CommitteeDetails/mid/381/id/64/SelectedTab/Members/Default.aspx
External links
edit
- Official website
- Profile at European Parliament website
- HOWITT, Richard Stuart,Who's Who 2013,A & C Black, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012