Profile: John Howard

(CNN) -- Australians are voting in a federal election on November 24, in what many analysts predict will be a tight race.

The following is a look at Prime Minister John Howard:

-- Howard is the leader of the Liberal Party and represents the Federal seat of Bennelong in Sydney and is Australia's 25th Prime Minister. He was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia on March 11, 1996 and re-elected in 1998, 2001 and 2004. He is Australia's second-longest serving prime minister after Robert Menzies.

-- Howard was born in Sydney on July 26, 1939. He studied at the University of Sydney and was admitted as a solicitor of the New South Wales Supreme Court in 1962.

-- He entered politics in 1974 and quickly moved through the party's ranks, rising to deputy leader in 1982. He was elected party leader in 1985 but lost the job to fierce rival Andrew Peacock in 1989. In 1995 he once again became the party's leader, and led the conservative forces to a large election victory the following year over Paul Keating's Australian Labor Party.

-- Howard has been a close ally of U.S. President George W. Bush, and took Australia to war in Iraq. He also followed America's lead on refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Other major policy decisions included introducing tough gun control laws, cracking down on asylum seekers and banning compulsory trade unionism.

-- Howard is a renowned sports enthusiast, and follows Rugby League and especially cricket with a passion.

-- Howard is married to Janette and they have three adult children, Melanie, Tim and Richard. E-mail to a friend

Sources: The official Web site of the Australian Labor Party; the official Web site of the Liberal Party of Australia; BBC; The Australian newspaper