Who is Geoffrey Howe? In 60 seconds
Howe, who served as both finance and foreign ministers, died of a suspected heart attack late on Friday at his home in central England.
Howe was Thatcher’s longest-serving Cabinet minister but also helped to end her time in office with a critical speech in 1990 as he was resigning from Parliament after a series of policy disagreements with the prime minister. His family said Howe died after enjoying a jazz concert with his wife Elspeth. Howe served as foreign secretary from 1983 to 1989.
He oversaw Britain’s recovery from recession in the 1980s and was a champion of closer European unity – a belief which put him in direct confrontation with Thatcher and eventually became a catalyst for his exit from government.
Tributes have been paid to the former chancellor from across the political spectrum after he suffered a suspected heart attack last night.
Labour’s Healey once described a rhetorical onslaught from Howe as akin to being “savaged by a dead sheep”.
“The Conservative family has lost one of its greats. The family would be grateful for privacy at this time”.
Former British finance minister Geoffrey Howe, a key figure in the government of Margaret Thatcher but instrumental in her downfall, has died aged 88, his family said Saturday.
However Lord Howe proved how devastating he could be when he rose to make his resignation speech in the House of Commons, where he quit in protest to the then prime minister’s approach to Europe.
“George Osborne and I benefited greatly from his wisdom and determination to improve the state of the country”, he added.