Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe.

About Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe

Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, styled Viscount Curzon from 1900 to 1929, was a British naval officer, Member of Parliament, and racing driver and promoter. 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 House of Lords in 1929, succeeding his father as the 5th Earl Howe. In 1928, he co-founded the British Racing Drivers' Club with Dudley Benjafield and served as its president until his death in 1964.