Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe

Who was Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe?

Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, CBE, PC, VD was a British naval officer, Member of Parliament, and motor racing driver and promotor. In the 1918 UK General Election he won the Battersea South seat as the candidate of the Conservative Party, which he held until 1929. While in Parliament he took up motor racing, and later won the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans race. He ascended to the Peerage in 1929, succeeding his father as the 5th Earl Howe. Earl Howe co-founded the British Racing Drivers' Club with Dudley Benjafield in 1928, and served as its President until his death in 1964.