High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC (born 20 December 1926) is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher`s longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons and Deputy Prime Minister. His resignation on 1 November 1990 is widely considered to have precipitated Thatcher`s own downfall three weeks later.