John Howell (politician)

John Michael Howell OBE FSA FRGS (born 27 July 1955) is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley, having won the seat with an increased share of the vote in the Henley by-election, 2008.

John Michael Howell was born on 27 July 1955. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and holds a doctorate in archaeology from St John's College, Oxford.

He worked as a tax inspector (1982–1985) for the Inland Revenue (now known as HM Revenue & Customs) before moving into the world of accountancy and consultancy as a tax adviser at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young. He became a partner in Ernst & Young in 1990.

Howell has been a presenter for BBC World and was a councillor on Oxfordshire County Council from 2004 to 2009. In 2000, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "services to Export in Central and Eastern Europe."

Following the 2010 General Election, Howell was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the House of Commons and the Lord Privy Seal, then Sir George Young, Bt. MP. He served on the Work and Pensions Select Committee and Justice Committee

In 2012 Howell reported receiving death threats after responding to a question on whether he would be acting try to halt Israeli military actions with a reference to Hamas rocket attacks in an online exchange.

Howell is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Geographical Society.

In January 2016, Howell suggested the reason he lost a poll, taken after a debate held at a local secondary school, was because "Young people generally tend to be more socialist-minded but they generally grow out of it."

Howell was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.

• Settlement and Economy in Neolithic Northern France, British Archaeological Reports, 1983. ISBN 978-0-86054-199-8.
• Understanding Eastern Europe: The Context of Change, 1994. ISBN 978-0-74941-510-5.