Original sentence: Ann Widdecombe, his former junior minister in the Home Office, made a statement to Parliament about the dismissal of then Director of the Prison Service, Derek Lewis and famously remarked of Howard that "there is something of the night about him", a bitter and widely quoted comment that damaged his 1997 bid for the Conservative Party leadership.However character attacks on Howard have caused problems for those making the attacks, as the Labour Party found in 2005 when drafts of posters featuring Howard were criticised as employing anti-semitic stereotypes.Michael Howard QC (born Michael Hecht, July 7, 1941) is MP for Folkestone and Hythe since 1983 and the current Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The comment was taken as a reference to his dour demeanour, which she was implying was sinister.The fact that Howard has Romanian ancestry (his family were from Transylvania) has led to frequent comparisons with the mythical vampire Dracula
Edited sentence: Ann Widdecombe, his former junior minister in the Home Office, made a statement to Parliament about the dismissal of then Director of the Prison Service, Derek Lewis and famously remarked of Howard that "there is something of the night about him", a bitter and widely quoted comment that fatally damaged his 1997 bid for the Conservative Party leadership.Michael Howard QC (born Michael Hecht, July 7, 1941) is MP for Folkestone and Hythe since 1982 and the current Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The comment was taken as a "bitchy" reference to his dour demeanour, which she was implying was sinister and almost Dracula-like, related to his Romanian ancestry