Sir Howard John Davies (born 12 February 1951) is a British historian and author, who is the chairman of NatWest Group and the former director of the London School of Economics.

[2] He was educated at Bowker Vale County Primary School and The Manchester Grammar School, where he was the founder editor of The Mancunian, before going as an exchange student to the Memorial University of Newfoundland and to Merton College, University of Oxford, where he gained a Master of Arts degree in modern history and modern languages.

[5] On graduation from Oxford he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, working the Western European Department on bilateral relations with Scandinavia, Italy, Austria and the Holy See.

From 1976 he was on secondment to HM Treasury, where he worked on Nationalised Industry Policy and Aerospace finding (civil and military).

He stepped down from the position on 3 March 2011 following concern over the institution's decision to accept funding from a foundation controlled by the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif, in the LSE–Gaddafi affair.

[7][8][9] Davies was a non-executive director of GKN between 1989 and 1995, and a member of the international advisory board of National Westminster Bank from 1991 to 1995.

From 2002 to 2010 he was a trustee of the Tate Gallery (where he was interim chair 2008–09), and was a member of the governing body of the Royal Academy of Music from 2004 to 2013.

In 2004 he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship of Merton College, Oxford and became an independent director of Morgan Stanley, where he chaired the board's risk committee.

He resigned from both positions in September 2012, on appointment to the chair of the Airports Commission (GIC Private Limited is a part owner of Heathrow).

[3] In November 2022, as Chairman of NatWest Group, Sir Howard reportedly told staff that he had been "embarrassed" during a meeting with the IMF after Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng released a mini-budget.

[12] In July 2023, as Chairman of NatWest Group, Sir Howard expressed confidence in his Chief Executive, Dame Alison Rose, who had breached client confidentiality in discussing the bank account of Nigel Farage with a BBC reporter.