Editing Michael Howard (section)

===In Government===
Howard gained quick promotion, becoming [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] at the [[Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)|Department of Trade and Industry]] in 1985 with responsibility for regulating the financial dealings of the City of London. This junior post became very important, as he oversaw the [[Big Bang (financial markets)|Big Bang]] introduction of new technology in 1986. Following the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]], he became Minister for Local Government. Following a proposal from backbench MP [[David Wilshire]], he accepted the amendment which would become [[Section 28]] (prohibiting local governments from the "promotion" of homosexuality) and defended its inclusion.

Howard guided the 1988 Local Government Finance Act through the House of Commons. The act brought in Margaret Thatcher's new system of local taxation, officially known as the [[Community Charge]] but almost universally nicknamed the "poll tax". Howard personally supported the tax and won Thatcher's respect for minimising the rebellion against it within the Conservative Party. After a period as Minister for Water and Planning in 1988–89, during which he was responsible for implementing [[water privatisation]] in England and Wales, Howard was promoted to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Employment in January 1990 following the resignation of [[Norman Fowler]]. He subsequently guided through legislation abolishing the [[closed shop]], and campaigned vigorously for Thatcher in the first ballot of the [[1990 Conservative Party leadership election|1990 Conservative leadership election]], although he told her a day before she resigned that he felt she was not going to win and that John Major was better placed to defeat [[Michael Heseltine]].

He retained his Cabinet post under John Major and campaigned against trade union power during the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]] campaign. His work in the campaign led to his appointment as Secretary of State for the Environment in the reshuffle following the election. In this capacity he encouraged the United States to participate in the [[Earth Summit]] in Rio de Janeiro, but shortly afterwards he was appointed Home Secretary in a 1993 reshuffle precipitated by the sacking of [[Norman Lamont]] as Chancellor.