Brian Howe - Definition

For the murder victim of Mary Bell see Brian Howe.

Brian Leslie Howe (born 23 January 1936), Australian politician, was Deputy Prime Minister in the Labor government of Paul Keating from 1991 to 1995.

Howe was born in Melbourne and became a Uniting Church minister before being elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 1977. He was a member of the Socialist Left faction of the Labor Party. He was Minister for Defence Support in the government of Bob Hawke from 1983. In 1984 he was promoted to Cabinet as Minister for Social Security. In this role he carried out radical reforms to Australia's social security system.

In 1990 Howe became Minister for Health. When Paul Keating resigned from Cabinet in 1991, Howe succeeded him as Deputy Prime Minister. He became Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services in the Keating government in December 1991, dropping the Health part of the portfolio in 1993. He resigned as Deputy Prime Minister in June 1995 and was succeeded by Kim Beazley, and retired from politics at the 1996 election.