[5] By the age of 16, after a solidarity trip to Cuba to the World Festival of Youth and Students, Howes abandoned far-left politics and joined the Australian Labor Party.
He was a director of the Chifley Research Centre and the McKell Institute as well as representing the Asia Pacific Region on the executive committee of the IndustriALL Global Union.
[8] In November 2010 Howes wrote Confessions of a Faceless Man: inside campaign 2010, an autobiographical analyses of the election and 18 months in Australian politics.
[9][10][11] He also gave a speech to the Sydney Institute, which The Australian published as an opinion piece headed: "ALP's faceless men must learn to tolerate dissent.
In explaining his reasons for stepping down, Howes stated that his public support for gay marriage had drawn the ire of pro-Catholic right-wing members of the ALP.
[13][14] In a speech in February 2014, Howes provoked controversy by arguing that the biggest problem with industrial relations in Australia is the constant changes in the regulatory framework.