Howard Flight (OB 1959-1966)

In the City, politics and charity work, a heavyweight who spoke his mind Howard Flight, a successful City fund manager and member of the Conservative Shadow Cabinet early this century, died on January 24th, aged 77. The funeral took place at Leigh Church, near Malvern on February 23rd.

Howard Emerson Flight was born in Romford on June 16th 1948 and raised in Little Waltham. (His very active and involved years at Brentwood and his time as a Governor are set out in an separate article).

He read history and economics at Magdelene College, Cambridge, chaired the University Conservative Association, was active in the Debating Union and in 1969 became Vice-Chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students. Next step was the Ross Business School, University of Michigan, where he took his MBA.

In 1970, he joined Rothschild as an investment adviser. His responsibilities included Hong Kong and and the South East Asia regions and some pension fund portfolios. With another ex-Rothschild manager, Flight set up a “little bank”, Cayzer Ltd, which found itself affected by the 1974 banking crisis. He was briefly seconded to the Bank of England lifeboat operation.

Hong Kong, India and back to London

In 1977, he went to Hong Kong to join Wardley, the banking arm of HSBC, focusing on HK$ and Eurobond issues. This led to a transfer to Bombay (now Mumbai) to start a merchant banking division for HSBC. Most unfortunately, he contracted typhoid and paratyphoid, life threatening conditions requiring a prolonged recovery. In 1979, with a newly born son Thomas and a two-year-old daughter Kitty, Howard and his wife Christabel felt it was time to return to London. Pondering his future, he later told the Old Brentwoods Chronicle: “I had come to realise that I really didn’t like working for other people.”

He and his Cambridge friend Tim Guinness set up a managed currency fund Guinness Mahon and later negotiated a limited management buy out. Flight stayed with Guinness Mahon for seven years, the final three as a board member. In 1986, the friends set up Guinness Flight Global Asset Management, acquiring Hambro’s fund management business to give it bulk. In 1989, they bought out Guinness Mahon’s 80 per cent stake, later accepting an offer for their business from Investec Asset Management. Flight became Chairman, remaining on the board for 17 years. In 1988, he published All You Need to Know About Exchange Rates.

He launched Flight & Partners Recovery Fund in 2007, while chairing several investment trusts and the Enterprise Investment Scheme, designed to help smaller companies raise equity finance.

He was an advisory board member of the Centre for Policy Studies, the Institute of
Economic Affairs and the Financial Services Forum; and Master of the Carpenters
Company in 2019.

After 2010, he was much involved with Metrobank, serving as chairman of the
nomination and remuneration committees.

Rising star in the Commons

Flight’s appetite for a political career was whetted working for Norman Tebbit in the 1970 Election. He stood unsuccessfully against Labour veteran Bob Melluish in Bermondsey in the two 1974 elections. From 1984 to 1994, he chaired the Putney Conservative Political Centre.

In 1997, Flight took the new seat of Arundel and South Downs with a 14,035 majority. He was widely regarded as “an unapologetic right wing Eurosceptic free marketeer.” He was appointed to the Commons Environment and Social Services Committees and chaired the all party Hong Kong group in the wake of the handover to China.

William Hague made him Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury in 1999. Iain Duncan Smith appointed him Shadow Paymaster General after the 2001 Election. A year later, he joined Shadow cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury which raised the prospect of his eventually becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer. He led the Conservative Opposition during the committee stages of four Finance Acts and the Financial Services and Markets Act. This brought hin into contact with
senior Parliamentary draughtsman Robert Parker (OB),

Public expenditure savings

In 2004, Michael Howard made him the Party’s Deputy Chairman. A key role was supervising a major review of public expenditure to support the 2005 General Election Campaign and prospectively the next Government’s policies. “I roped in 80 friends and colleagues to look at various areas over about two years. We found possible savings of some £80 billion.”

However, voter polls commissioned by Lynton Crosby, the Conservatives’ Election Director, indicated limited interest in this area from the electorate. “So we trimmed the public expenditure savings target to around £35 billion.” At a private meeting, organised by Conservative Way Forward, Flight affirmed there was still scope for up to £80 billion. “Unfortunately for me, a Labour supporting journalist on The Times had arranged for a recording of my remarks. The result was a story saying the Tories had a secret agenda for cutting public expenditure once in power.” This would have belied the manifesto commitment.

Michael Howard sacked him as Deputy Chairman and withdrew the Whip, Flight refused to accept deselection from his constituency, maintaining that only the Arundel and South Downs constituency had the power to do this and producing a confirmatory opinion from a QC. At first, the consituency association refused to seek a new candidate but eventually backed down.

Despite being placed on the A list for Conservative candidates by David Cameron, Flight did not find a seat to fight in the 2010 Election. With the Coalition in power, he was created Lord Flight of Worcester. He served for five years on the Lords EU Economics and Financial Affairs Committee with fellow OB Lord Carter of Coles.

Westminster and Worcestershire

Flight met Christabel Norbury who was working at Sotheby’s.They married in 1973. The Lady Flight was a Westminster councillor who became Lord Mayor of Westminster (2015-16) with her husband sometimes acting as consort at official events. As older people’s champion at Westminster, Christabel, with Howard’s help, set up Silver Sunday on the first Sunday in October. Now in its eleventh year, Silver Sunday has been taken up by over a thousand institutions around the country, doing much to alleviate the loneliness and isolation suffered by so many.

Flight was very active in his adoped county of Worcestershire, wence hails his wife. He helped raise £50,000 for the restoration of Croome Hall, near Pershore for the National Trust. He was a trustee for the Elgar Foundation which runs the Elgar birthplace museum. He supported the Three Choirs Festival held in rotation at Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester cathedrals. At their Worcestershire home, he was an avid gardener and collector of antiques. In 2016, Flight observed: “Unfortunately, I did not get the opportunity to serve in government. However, my life has worked out very happily anyway.” The Lady Flight survives him as do their son, three daughters and ten grandchildren.

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From Barron to Brice, from Roberts to Riddiford: talented and eccentric teachers helped plant the drive to be achievers

Howard Flight (1959-66), who died in January, shared his detailed recollections of his Brentwood School teachers with the Old Brentwoods Chronicle when interviewed a decade ago.

After four years at St. Cedd’s, Chelmsford, Howard Flight joined Brentwood School, Weald House and Middle II in 1959. He missed much of the first term in the third form with scarlet fever but was able to catch up, aided by “highly talented and
eccentric teachers.”

Some had joined in the 1920s and 1930s. They included Jim Rennie, Eggy Brice, Spud Barron, Joe Hodgson, Geoff Kidd and the Rev. Richard ‘Tusky’ Lewis. “I remember Tusky dragging a boy by his hair of Chapel in mid-service for making a noise. We understood that his irascibility resulted from war wounds. However, he conducted amazing ancient history lessons. In confirmation classes, he explained why miracles never happened.

“The quality of science teaching varied dramatically. I was taught physics particularly well by Peter Roberts but chemistry was another matter.”

Music loving entrepreneur

Dr Brice instilled an enduring love of classical music. This encouraged an early entrepreneurial streak in the young Flight. He collected water cress from a stream near his home and sold it at a Women’s Institute market. The resultant £1 per week enabled him to purchase Ace of Clubs classical records. This was consistent with an assertion made many years later: ”Essex man has a fairly robust self-improvement mentality.”

Howard was never a fan of the CCF. “I remember standing to attention in front of the pavilion in pouring rain on inspection day and nearly passing out.” He opted for the RAF section, which was “much more fun.”

He had fond memories of the French exchange visits organised by Dr. Elcoat. However, being placed in the Ancient Greek group in the run up to O levels, he missed out on learning German, which he always regretted. Yet he got to know his classics masters Dennis Riddiford and Tom Cluer well, enjoying a coffee and a smoke in Pat Cluer’s kitchen.

In the fifth and sixth forms, Howard participated in the Winter Theatricals, organised by “the amazing Spud Barron.” Playing a minor part in Richard II, Howard was dragged off the Memorial stage to be ‘murdered.’ At the close, Charles Allison went on stage to say that President  Kennedy had been assassinated. (Over a quarter of a century earlier in the Memorial Hall, Brentwood pupil Sir Robin Day recalled Headmaster Jimmy Hough having a radio fixed up to hear Edward VIII’s abdication speech).

Socialist teacher and capitalist convert

In the Sixth form, he read medieval history, economic history, English literature and economics at A level. The medieval history teacher was Peter Watkins. “As a Wesleyan socialist, he influenced me towards becoming a capitalist conservative! British economic history was taught magnificently by Jim Rennie who achieved amazing A level successes. He would regularly hand out snuff to pupils from his 18th century snuff box.”

He ran the History Society, edited the Medieval and Modern magazine and was Bean librarian, He took part in the debating society and campaigned in the 1964 General Election.

In the 1960s, taking the Oxbridge entrance exams meant membership of the VIIth Form. Presided over by Rennie, the VIIth was “most civilised” with its mixture of arts and science pupils.

Writing in The Best of Days in 1999, Howard felt that the character of the School had been shaped by Charles Allison, who became Headmaster in 1945. He concluded: “The School planted in many of us the drive to be achievers. I am sure it continues to motivate the boys and girls who spend their formative years at Brentwood.”

Advocating financial literacy

Howard Flight joined Brentwood School’s Governing Body in 1986. He chaired the Investment Committee, was strongly in favour of providing more accommodation for teaching staff and advocated the teaching of financial literacy to pupils. Writing in 2006, he maintained that while Brentwood’s academic standards were very high, the School offered something more. “There is an ethos of accepting siblings and children from the locality. We are looking to turn out good citizens. Overall, the pupils are an impressive lot.”