Robert Howarth, veteran Labour politician from Bolton who was an MP in the 1960s and later council leader – obituary
A lorry driver’s son, Howarth was brought up in a Tory home and flirted with the Young Conservatives before joining the Labour Party in 1945
2 May 2021 • 3:34pm
Robert Howarth, Labour candidate in the 1960 Bolton East by-election: he was narrowly beaten by the Conservative Edwin Taylor, whom he would oust in the general election four years later
Credit: David Thorpe/ANL/Shutterstock
Robert Howarth, who has died aged 93, was Labour MP for Bolton East from 1964 to 1970, and chairman of the party’s backbench aviation committee; but his parliamentary career was dwarfed by his four decades of service on Bolton council, including 24 years as its leader until he lost his seat in 2004.
TRIBUTES have been paid to ‘a legendary Boltonian’, former MP and council leader Bob Howarth, who has died at the age of 93. Born in Heaton in 1927, Mr Howarth was MP for Bolton East between 1964 and 1970 and leader of Bolton Council for 24 years from 1980, and chairman of Manchester Airport twice. He died on Good Friday after living with dementia for the past few years. Mr Howarth was the only surviving ‘Freeman’ of the metropolitan borough of Bolton and only the second individual to be honoured with that accolade, along with Bolton Wanderers legend Nat Lofthouse. After attending Bolton County Grammar School and Bolton Technical College he became an apprentice draughtsman at Hawker Siddeley Aviation in Bolton and later become a passionate union activist before joining the Labour Party.
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