 His political career was slightly overshadowed by his more prominent wife, Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman, but his work in the European Parliament was effective in shaping policy and he only narrowly missed being chosen to lead the Conservative group.Bowman went to Reed's School in Cobham, Surrey and Slough College of Technology.He had technical and management training in textiles from 1951 to 1953, and then worked in textile industry management for two years.