David Howell

David Howell has served in successive British Government ,including four years in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet - as Secretary of Stat for Energy and then for Transport. He is a Privy Counsellor and also recipient of the award from the Japanese Emperor of the Order of the Sacred Treasure.

He is the only politician to have served in three successive Conservative administrations under Ted Heath, Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron respectively.

David Howell was for ten years chair of the House of Commons Freign Affairs Committee, before going to the House of Lords in 1997, where he set up and was first chair of the International Affairs and Defence Committee between 2016 and 2019.

Earlier he was also chair of the UK-Japan 20th Century Group and is a regular columnist with The Japan Times, and adviser to major Japanese companies.

A leading international energy expert he is the author, or co-author, of several books on aspects of energy and climate.

He served in the 1990s as Advisory Director of SBC-Warburg (subsequently UBS) and director of several other companies. He is the author of seven books on current and future affairs. He also served for ten years as President of the Royal Commonwealth Society and is now President of the UK Parliament's All-Party Group on the Commonwealth, on which he as written extensively and which he has championed for many years.