Editing Michael Howard (section)

===Leader of the Opposition===
{{see also|Shadow Cabinet of Michael Howard}}
Following the Conservative defeat at the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]], Howard was recalled to frontline politics when the Conservative Party's new leader, [[Iain Duncan Smith]], appointed him Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. His performances in the post won him much praise; indeed, under his guidance, the Conservatives decided to debate the economy on an 'Opposition Day' for the first time in several years. After Duncan Smith was removed from the leadership, Howard was elected unopposed as leader of the party in November 2003.

As leader, he faced much less discontent within the party than any of his three predecessors and was seen as a steady hand. He avoided repeating such managerial missteps as Duncan Smith's firing of [[David Davis (British politician)|David Davis]] as Conservative Party Chairman and imposed discipline quickly and firmly: for example, he removed the party whip from [[Ann Winterton]] after she joked about the deaths of 23 Chinese [[Illegal immigration|illegal immigrants]]. In the lead up to the 2005 election campaign, Howard continued to impose strong party discipline, controversially forcing the deselection of at least four candidates. [[Danny Kruger]] was made to resign in [[Sedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)|Sedgefield]] after he said that the Conservatives "plan to introduce a period of creative destruction in the public services". He was later selected and elected as the Conservative MP for [[Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes]] in [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-03-15 |title=Tory candidate quits over remark |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4352425.stm |access-date=2024-07-25 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Robert Oulds and Adrian Hilton were successively sacked as candidates for [[Slough (UK Parliament constituency)|Slough]]–Oulds after he was photographed with a number of firearms and dubbed a "Tory gun nut" by ''The Sun''; and Hilton after a piece he wrote for ''The Spectator'' in 2003 came to public attention, in which he claimed that "a Catholic EU will inevitably result in the subjugation of Britain's Protestant ethos to Roman Catholic social, political and religious teaching".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tempest |first=Matthew |last2=Happold |first2=Tom |date=2005-03-04 |title=Catholic church condemns Tory 'conspiracy theorist' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/04/election2005.uk |access-date=2024-07-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Most prominently, incumbent MP and then-[[Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party]] [[Howard Flight]] was deselected in [[Arundel and South Downs]], for a speech at a [[Conservative Way Forward]] meeting that suggested that the Conservatives would make much greater spending cuts than they promised in their manifesto, if they won the election.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/28/conservatives.politicalcolumnists|title=The brutal world of Spin Doctor Who|author=Peter Preston|work=The Guardian|date=28 March 2005|access-date=29 August 2015|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305032430/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/28/conservatives.politicalcolumnists|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Happold |first=Tom |date=2005-04-06 |title=Flight gives up the fight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/06/election2005.uk7 |access-date=2024-07-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In February 2004, Howard called on then-Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] to resign over the Iraq War, for failing to ask "basic questions" regarding [[Weapon of mass destruction|WMD]] claims and misleading Parliament.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3460771.stm|date=5 February 2004|title=Howard calls for Blair to resign|work=BBC News|access-date=28 August 2004|archive-date=9 July 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040709222940/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3460771.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> In July, the Conservative leader stated that he would not have voted for the motion that authorised the Iraq War had he known the quality of intelligence information on which the WMD claims were based. At the same time, he said he still believed in the Iraq invasion was right because "the prize of a stable Iraq was worth striving for".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3910371.stm|date=20 July 2004|title=At-a-glance Iraq debate|work=BBC News|access-date=28 August 2004|archive-date=26 July 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040726195614/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3910371.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Howard's criticism of Blair was not received favourably in Washington, D.C., where President of the United States [[George W. Bush]] refused to meet him. Bush's advisor [[Karl Rove]] reportedly told Howard, "you can forget about meeting the president. Don't bother coming."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3608006.stm|date=28 August 2004|title=Howard hits out at Bush aides|work=BBC News|access-date=28 August 2004|archive-date=29 August 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040829065553/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3608006.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Howard was named 2003 Parliamentarian of the Year by ''[[The Spectator]]'' and Zurich UK. This was in recognition of his performance at the dispatch box in his previous role as Shadow Chancellor. However, twelve months after he became party leader, neither his personal popularity nor his party's with the public had risen appreciably in opinion polls from several years before.

Howard was part of discussions for [[British Airways]] to resume flights to Pakistan in 2003, this was until their final departure in 2008 the only European airline serving the nation.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.news24.com/World/News/BA-flies-back-to-Pakistan-20031202|title = BA flies back to Pakistan|date = 2 December 2003|access-date = 30 August 2018|archive-date = 30 August 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180830142300/https://www.news24.com/World/News/BA-flies-back-to-Pakistan-20031202|url-status = live}}</ref>

====Further Newsnight treatment====
In November 2004, ''[[Newsnight]]'' again concentrated on Howard with coverage of a campaign trip to Cornwall and an interview with Jeremy Paxman. The piece, which purported to show that members of the public could not identify Howard and that those who recognised him did not support him, was the subject of an official complaint from the Conservative Party. The complaint argued that the ''Newsnight'' team spoke only to people who held opinions against either Michael Howard or the Conservatives and that Paxman's style was bullying and unnecessarily aggressive. In this programme, Paxman also returned to [[#Controversies|his question from 1997]]. Howard returned briefly to ''Newsnight'' on Jeremy Paxman's final episode on 18 June 2014 for a cameo.

====2005 general election====
At the 2005 general election, Howard's Conservative Party suffered a third consecutive defeat, although the Conservatives gained 33 seats (including five from the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]) and Labour's majority shrank from 167 to 66. The Conservatives were left with 198 seats to Labour's 355. The Conservative share of the national vote increased by 0.6% from 2001 and 1.6% from 1997. The party ended with 32.4% of the total votes cast, which was within 3% of Labour on 35.2%.

The day after the election, Howard stated in a speech in the newly gained Conservative seat in [[Putney (UK Parliament constituency)|Putney]] that he would not lead the party into the next general election as, already aged 63, he would be "too old" by that stage, and that he would stand down "sooner rather than later", following a revision of the Conservative leadership electoral process. Despite Labour winning a third term in government, Howard described the election as "the beginning of a recovery" for the Conservative Party following Labour's landslide victories in 1997 and 2001.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4521941.stm | work=BBC News | title=Howard will stand down as leader | date=6 May 2005 | access-date=19 December 2011 | archive-date=16 May 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090516034013/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4521941.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>

Howard's own constituency of Folkestone and Hythe had been heavily targeted by the Liberal Democrats as the most sought after prize of their failed "decapitation" strategy of seeking to gain seats from prominent Conservatives. Yet Howard almost doubled his majority to 11,680, while the Liberal Democrats saw their vote fall.

====Criticism of 2005 campaign====
During the 2005 general election campaign, Howard was criticised by some commentators for conducting a campaign which addressed the issues of [[immigration]], [[asylum seeker]]s, and [[Nomad|travellers]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tempest |first1=Matthew |title=Howard calls for asylum cap |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/jan/24/asylum.immigrationasylumandrefugees |access-date=18 November 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=24 January 2005 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McSmith |first1=Andy |title=Howard stirs race row with attack on Gypsies |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/howard-stirs-race-row-with-attack-on-gypsies-529230.html |access-date=18 November 2022 |work=The Independent |date=20 March 2005 |language=en}}</ref> Others{{Like whom?|date=November 2022}} noted that the continued media coverage of such issues created most of the controversy and that Howard merely defended his views when questioned at unrelated policy launches.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Some evidence suggested that the public generally supported policies proposed by the Conservative Party when they were not told which party had proposed them, indicating that the party still had an image problem. Conservative John Major's 30% lead in 1992 amongst the sought after [[NRS social grade|ABC1]] voters (professionals) had all but disappeared by 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.progressives.org.uk/magazine/Default.asp?action=magazine&articleid=920 |title=News and debate from the progressive community |website=progressives.org.uk|date=20 April 2018 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Progressives.org.uk. Retrieved on 15 August 2013.{{dead link|date=July 2016}}</ref>

The campaign focus on immigration may have been influenced by Howard's election adviser [[Lynton Crosby]], who had run similar tactics in Australian elections earlier.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.safecom.org.au/2005/04/lynton-crosby-globetrotting-spreading.htm|date=18 April 2005|work=Fixing Australia|title=Lynton Crosby globetrotting, spreading dirty dog whistles|access-date=7 May 2005|archive-date=22 June 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050622045503/http://www.safecom.org.au/2005/04/lynton-crosby-globetrotting-spreading.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Crosby was later re-hired by the Conservative Party to run their successful campaign in the [[2008 London mayoral election]].{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}