British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe (born 1926) was one of Britain's most important political leaders through the 1980s.

Sir (Richard Edward) Geoffrey Howe was the chancellor of the Exchequer, entrusted with the key job of directing economic policy, in the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher which took office in 1979. In 1983, after Thatcher won re-election, Howe became foreign secretary. Called the "patient Fabian of Thatcherism" by one writer, Howe was less outspoken than the prime minister, but he was closely identified with her vigorously right-wing policies, especially in economics.

Geoffrey Howe was born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales, on December 20, 1926, the son of B. Edward Howe and E. F. (Thomson) Howe. His father was a solicitor who served as a court clerk and coroner and his mother was a justice for community affairs. Although his parents were of English ancestry, Howe often talked of his identification with his...