Nigel Lawsona former British Chancellor of the Exchequer who was architect of the economic reforms of Margaret Thatcherbut who argued with her over what would become the European Union, has died at the age of 91, British media reported on Monday.
Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1983 to 1989, Lawson advocated lower personal taxes, greater share ownership and a free market economy, forming the backbone of Thatcher’s vision for Britain.
But it was ultimately blamed for failing to control a boom that ended in rising interest rates and a deep recession.
“I misjudged the strength of the boom,” Lawson said in a 1992 interview with the newspaper The Guardian. “Optimism in general is a good thing, much better than pessimism, much better than sadness. But…things went too far.”
The Lawson’s resignation In October 1989, after years of disagreements with Thatcher on key aspects of politics, especially on Europe, he plunged his Conservative government in crisis from which he did not recover until she resigned a year later.
A “Brexit prophet”
former prime minister Boris Johnson praised Lawson as “a fearless and original flame of free-market conservatism” and a fellow supporter of Britain’s departure from the EU.
“He was a prophet of Brexit and a lover of continental Europe. He was a giant,” Johnson said on Twitter.
Nigel Lawson was a fearless and original flame of free market Conservatism. He was a tax-cutter and simplifier who helped transform the economic landscape and helped millions of British people achieve their dreams.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 3, 2023
The first Minister Rishi Sunak described Lawson, the son of a well-to-do tea merchant who studied at London’s elite Westminster School and Oxford University, as a “transformative and an inspiration“.
One of the first things I did as Chancellor was hang a picture of Nigel Lawson above my desk.
He was a transformational Chancellor and an inspiration to me and many others.
My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. pic.twitter.com/SPwcnoUFnQ
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 3, 2023
Sunak also shared via Twitter an image of himself in the office in which a photograph of Lawson can be seen hanging on the wall. “One of the first things I did as chancellor – he was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022 – was to hang a picture of Nigel Lawson above my desk,” he said.
turbulent times
Lawson’s time in government was marked by the economic boom of the 1980s and the growing tension in the relationship of the United Kingdom with the European Community, which ended up becoming the EU.
They are opposition to the bloc’s plans for an economic union closer worsened divisions in the Conservative Party on the issue.
Lawson often publicly disagreed with Thatcher’s personal economic adviser, Alan Waltersespecially in his plan to use interest rates to allow the pound to darken the Deutschmark before the UK’s entry into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), a monetary system that Walters opposed.
Lawson retired from front-line politics in 1992 but remained a critic of John Major, who succeeded him as finance minister and later became prime minister. Lawson sat in the House of Lords for 30 years.
journalist of Financial Times and of the Sunday Telegraph Before entering politics, she had six children, including chef and television writer Nigella, and journalist Dominic.
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