Richard Stuart Howitt (born 5 April 1961) is a British Labour Party politician, and a former[1] Chief Executive Officer of the International Integrated Reporting Council.

[3] He graduated with a BA degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 1982 and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from the University of Hertfordshire.

Howitt is a key architect of the EU's non-financial information directive, one of the biggest transformations in corporate disclosure anywhere in the world.

[5] As lead-MEP on corporate responsibility, Mr Howitt has represented the EU on many missions worldwide, travelling extensively in Asia, Africa and the Americas.

[8] In September 2016, Howitt announced his resignation from the European Parliament to become chief executive of the International Integrated Reporting Council.