Kim Howells
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Dr Kim Scott Howells (born November 27, 1946 in Merthyr Tydfil) is a Labour politician in Wales, and member of Parliament for Pontypridd. He entered the House of Commons in a by-election in 1989. He has been a junior minister in various departments since the 1997 election, and currently (since September 2004) serves as a Minister of State at the Department for Education and Skills.
In 2002 when a junior Minister at the DCMS, he criticised the Turner Prize by writing a note that read:
- If this is the best British artists can produce then British art is lost. It is cold mechanical, conceptual bullshit. Kim Howells. P.S. The attempts at conceptualisation are particularly pathetic and symptomatic of a lack of conviction
Kim Howells went to Hornsey College of Art and later gained a PhD from the University of Warwick. Before entering Parliament he worked as a researcher for the South Wales Miner, as a writer and presenter for television and radio and as a lecturer.
External links
- Wales Labour Party - Kim Howells (http://www.waleslabourparty.org.uk/pontypridd/mp.html) official profile
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Kim Howells MP (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2554,00.html)
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Kim Howells MP (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/kim_howells/pontypridd)
- The Public Whip - Kim Howells (http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?firstname=Kim&lastname=Howells&constituency=Pontypridd) voting record
- BBC News report of Turner Prize comments (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2379975.stm) 31 October, 2002