Page "Michael Howard" Paragraph 22

Following the 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 as Conservative Party Chairman, and imposed discipline quickly and firmly ; he removed the party whip from Ann Winterton following her telling of a tasteless joke.