Nigel Lawson, who served as a Tory chancellor in the past, has passed away at the age of 91.
Throughout the course of more than half a century, Lawson was a member of parliament; however, he is most remembered for serving as chancellor for Margaret Thatcher for a total of six years.
During June 1983, he worked at the No. 11 office, where he was responsible for handling a significant portion of the Thatcherite economic agenda and was a notable supporter of privatisation.
Lawson served as a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party from 1974 until 1992, during which time he represented the Blaby seat.
He remained active in politics until the very end of his career, serving as president of the pro-Brexit campaign group Conservatives for Britain and as chair of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a think tank that promotes scepticism about climate change. The Global Warming Policy Foundation has recently reported itself to the Charity Commission over concerns surrounding funding and “one-sided and politically motivated research.”
In a tweet paying tribute to Lawson, the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, referred to him as a “transformational chancellor” and said that he was “an inspiration to me and many others.”
Sunak noted, “One of the first things I did as chancellor was place a photograph of Nigel Lawson above my desk.” Sunak is the current chancellor of the university.
Lawson was remembered by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who also expressed his condolences on Twitter. Johnson referred to Lawson as “a brave and original flame of free market Conservatism.”
He referred to himself as a “tax cutter and simplification who helped reshape the economic landscape.”
The current chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has referred to Lawson as “a rare among politicians,” and has said that he was “someone who altered our thinking in addition to altering our economy.”
Before taking over as editor of the Spectator in 1966, Lawson began his professional life as a writer, contributing to publications such as the Financial Times and the Sunday Telegraph.
In addition to this, he wrote a book titled “The View from No 11,” in which he discussed his time serving as chancellor and the factors that led to his departure from Thatcher’s cabinet.