Editing Nigel Lawson (section)

== Life and career ==
For two years from 1954, Lawson carried out his [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|National Service]] as a [[Royal Navy]] officer, during which time he commanded the fast-patrol boat [[Gay-class patrol boat|HMS ''Gay Charger'']].<ref name=guardianobit /><ref>{{cite web|title=Gay Class Boats|url=http://www.bmpt.org.uk/other_boats_history/Gay%20Class/index.htm|publisher=British Military Powerboat Team|access-date=11 August 2017}}</ref>

Having been turned down for a career at the [[Foreign Office]], Lawson joined the ''[[Financial Times]]'' as a journalist in 1956, subsequently writing the [[Lex column|''Lex'' column]]. He progressed to become [[City editor]] of ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' in 1961, where he introduced [[Jim Slater (accountant)|Jim Slater]]'s ''Capitalist'' investing column.<ref name=guardianobit />

=== Early political career ===
In 1963, Lawson was recruited by [[Conservative Central Office]] to assist with [[speech-writing]] for prime ministers [[Harold Macmillan]] and [[Alec Douglas-Home]] in the lead-up to the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]].<ref name=guardianobit />

After returning to journalism as editor of ''[[The Spectator]]'' from 1966 to 1970, Lawson was selected as the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] candidate for the [[Eton and Slough]] constituency in 1968.<ref name=guardianobit /> He contested the seat unsuccessfully at the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 general election]], before becoming [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Blaby (UK Parliament constituency)|Blaby]] in Leicestershire in [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974]], holding the seat until he retired at the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]].<ref name=ParlProf>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/nigel-lawson/27077 |title=Lord Lawson of Blaby |access-date=6 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326064114/http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/nigel-lawson/27077 |archive-date=26 March 2012  }}</ref>

In 1977, while an [[opposition whip]], Lawson co-ordinated tactics with rebellious government [[backbencher]]s [[Jeff Rooker]] and [[Audrey Wise]] to secure legislation providing for the automatic [[indexation]] of [[tax threshold]]s to prevent the [[tax burden]] being increased by inflation (typically in excess of 10% per annum during that parliament).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lowther |first1=Ed |title=Budget rebellions remain scarce |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/7363665.stm |access-date=4 April 2023 |work=BBC News |date=24 April 2008}}</ref><ref name=guardianobit />

=== In government ===
==== Financial Secretary to the Treasury ====
On [[1979 United Kingdom general election|the election]] of [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s government, Lawson was appointed to the post of [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-04 |title=Free-market ex-UK Treasury chief Nigel Lawson dies |url=https://apnews.com/article/nigella-lawson-big-bang-deregulation-conservative-party-3cc3b802a4e7272b4878c7a469ddd541 |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref> Although this is the fourth-ranking political position in the [[UK Treasury]], Lawson's energy in office was reflected in such measures as the ending of unofficial state controls on [[mortgage lending]], the abolition of [[exchange controls]] in October 1979 and the publication of the Medium Term financial Strategy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=5 April 2023 |title=The Architect of Margaret Thatcher's Revolution |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/2023/04/05/nigel-lawson-was-just-as-influential-as-margaret-thatcher/415af6fa-d369-11ed-ac8b-cd7da05168e9_story.html |access-date=2023-04-10 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> This document set the course for both the [[monetary policy|monetary]] and [[fiscal policy|fiscal]] sides of the new government's [[economic policy]], though the extent to which the subsequent trajectory of policy and outcome matched that projected is still a matter for debate.<ref name=":0" />

==== Secretary of State for Energy ====
In the [[Cabinet reshuffle]] of September 1981, Lawson was promoted to the position of [[Secretary of State for Energy]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-07 |title=Rishi Sunak's Cabinet reshuffle: Key statistics |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/government-lucy-frazer-cabinet-rishi-sunak-harold-wilson-b2277363.html |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> In this role his most significant action was to prepare for what he saw as an inevitable full-scale strike in the [[Coal mining in the United Kingdom|coal industry]] (then [[state-owned]] since [[nationalisation]] by the post-war [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] government of [[Clement Attlee]]) over the closure of deep coal mines whose uneconomic operation accounted for the coal industry's business losses and consequent requirement for [[state subsidy]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=1983-03-28|title=1983: Macgregor named as coal boss|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/28/newsid_2531000/2531033.stm|access-date=2023-04-09}}</ref> He was a key proponent of the Thatcher government's [[privatisation]] policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Larry |date=2023-04-04 |title=How Nigel Lawson turned postwar economic consensus on its head |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/04/how-1980s-chancellor-turned-postwar-economic-consensus-on-its-head |access-date=2023-04-10 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=2023-04-04 |title=Nigel Lawson was the economic brain of Thatcherism |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2023/04/04/nigel-lawson-was-the-economic-brain-of-thatcherism |access-date=2023-04-10 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> During his tenure at the [[Department of Energy (United Kingdom)|Department of Energy]] he set the course for the later privatisations of the gas and electricity industries and on his return to the Treasury he worked closely with the [[Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)|Department of Trade and Industry]] in privatising [[British Airways]], [[British Telecom]], and [[British Gas]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-04-03 |title=Nigel Lawson, chancellor and journalist, 1932–2023 |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/b4f4cd59-97b1-4bca-8ea4-b11f0256db65 |access-date=2023-04-10}}</ref>

==== Chancellor of the Exchequer ====
{{Quote box |quote=[A] mixture of [[free market]]s, [[Fiscal conservatism|financial discipline]], firm control over [[public expenditure]], [[tax cut]]s, nationalism, "[[Victorian values]]" (of the [[Samuel Smiles]] [[:wikt:heaven helps those who help themselves|self-help variety]]), privatisation and a dash of [[populism]]. |source=Lawson's definition of [[Thatcherism]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Berlinski |first1=Claire |author1-link=Claire Berlinski |title=There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters |title-link=There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters |date=2008 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-465-00231-3 |page=115}}</ref> |align=left |width=calc(100%/3)}}

Following the Thatcher government's [[1983 United Kingdom general election|re-election in 1983]], Lawson was appointed [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], succeeding [[Geoffrey Howe]]. The early years of Lawson's chancellorship were associated with [[tax reform]]. The [[1984 United Kingdom budget|1984 budget]] reformed [[corporate tax]]es by a combination of reduced rates and reduced allowances. The [[1985 United Kingdom budget|1985 budget]] continued the trend of shifting from [[Direct tax|direct]] to [[indirect tax]]es by reducing [[National Insurance]] contributions for the lower-paid while extending the base of [[value-added tax]].<ref name="BBC-obit">{{cite news |title=Obituary: Nigel Lawson |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32725176 |access-date=4 April 2023 |work=BBC News |date=3 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Budgets 1979–1992: 1985 Budget (Nigel Lawson) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/budget97/background/bud1979_92.shtml |access-date=4 April 2023 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

During these two years, Lawson's public image remained low-key, but from the [[1986 United Kingdom budget|1986 budget]] (in which he resumed the reduction of the standard rate of personal [[income tax]] from the 30 per cent rate to which it had been lowered in Howe's [[June 1979 United Kingdom budget|1979 budget]]), his stock rose as [[Unemployment in the United Kingdom|unemployment]] began to fall from the middle of 1986 (employment growth having resumed over three years earlier). Lawson also changed the [[budget deficit]] from £10.5&nbsp;billion (3.7 per cent of GDP) in 1983 to a [[budget surplus]] of £3.9&nbsp;billion in 1988 and £4.1&nbsp;billion in 1989, the year of his resignation. During these years, however, the UK's [[current account deficit]] similarly rose from below 1 per cent of GDP in 1986 to almost 5 per cent in 1989, with Lawson asserting that an external deficit based on [[private-sector]] behaviour is no reason for concern.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Obstfeld|first1=Maurice|title=Does the Current Account Still Matter?|journal=American Economic Review|year=2012|volume=102|issue=3|page=14|citeseerx=10.1.1.297.5348|doi=10.1257/aer.102.3.1}}</ref> During his tenure, the rate of [[Taxation in the United Kingdom|taxation]] also came down. The basic rate was reduced from 30 per cent in 1983 to 25 per cent by 1988. The top rate of tax also came down from 60 per cent to 40 per cent in 1988, and the four other higher rates were removed, leaving a system of personal taxation in which there was no rate anywhere in excess of 40 per cent.<ref>{{Cite Hansard|house=House of Commons |title=Income Tax |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1988-03-15/debates/d8dab897-21f2-4146-8343-bfb0bbb5ce66/IncomeTax?highlight=1988%20budget#contribution-80ff7dd3-6ff2-4924-a949-813900466cbf |date=15 March 1988 |volume=129}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Economy: 1988 Budget (Lawson 5) |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111449 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |access-date=29 May 2023 |date=15 March 1988}}</ref>

In 1986, the City of London's [[financial market]]s were [[deregulated]] in the so-called "[[Big Bang (financial markets)|Big Bang]]". In an interview in 2010, Lawson said that an [[unintended consequence]] of the Big Bang and the associated end of the separation that had existed between [[Merchant banking|merchant]] and [[retail banking]] was the [[2008 financial crisis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00qbxwj|title=BBC – Radio 4 Analysis – Glass-Steagall: A Price Worth Paying?|publisher=BBC|access-date=13 October 2017}}</ref>

The trajectory taken by the [[UK economy]] from this point on is typically described as "The [[Lawson Boom]]" by analogy with the phrase "The [[Barber Boom]]" which describes an earlier period of rapid expansion under the tenure as chancellor of [[Anthony Barber]] in the Conservative government of [[Edward Heath]] (1970–1974).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nigel Lawson's 'success' was merely an oil-fuelled illusion |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/nigel-lawson-legacy-big-oil-economic-boom-climate-lies/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=openDemocracy |language=en}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=May 2023}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Murphy|first=Brian|date=2023-04-10|title=Nigel Lawson, who shook up British economy in Thatcher era, dies at 91|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/04/04/nigel-lawson-britain-thatcher-dies/|access-date=2023-05-29|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Critics of Lawson assert that a combination of the abandonment of [[monetarism]], the adoption of a ''de facto'' [[exchange-rate]] target of 3 [[Deutsche Mark]]s to the [[Pound sterling|pound]], and excessive fiscal laxity (in particular the [[1988 United Kingdom budget|1988 budget]]) unleashed an [[inflationary spiral]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Champroux |first=Nathalie |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1066117848 |title=Entre convictions et obligations |date=2009 |publisher=Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle |isbn=978-2-87854-465-7 |location= |pages=111 |oclc=1066117848}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-04 |title=Thatcher-era chancellor Nigel Lawson dies at age of 91 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-lawson-dead-chancellor-conservatives-b2313460.html |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

In his defence, Lawson attributed the boom largely to the effects of various measures of [[financial deregulation]].<ref name=":1" /> Insofar as Lawson acknowledged policy errors, he attributed them to a failure to raise interest rates during 1986 and considered that had Thatcher not vetoed the UK joining the [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism]] in November 1985 it might have been possible to adjust to these beneficial changes in the arena of [[microeconomics]] with less [[macroeconomics]] turbulence. Lawson also ascribed the difficulty of conducting monetary policy to [[Goodhart's law]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keegan |first=William |date=2002-11-17 |title=Bust will follow boom, it's the law |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2002/nov/17/economicpolicy.comment |access-date=2023-04-10 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Clarke |first=Peter |date=1998-12-10 |title=The Rise and Fall of Thatcherism |language=en |volume=20 |work=London Review of Books |issue=24 |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n24/peter-clarke/the-rise-and-fall-of-thatcherism |access-date=2023-04-10 |issn=0260-9592}}</ref>

Lawson's tax cuts, beginning in 1986, resulted in the "Lawson Boom" of the British economy, which halved unemployment from more than 3,000,000 by the end of 1989.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Seager|first=Ashley|date=2006-08-16|title=20 years ago the dole queue hit 3 million – today it is the workforce that's a record|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/aug/16/socialexclusion.politics|access-date=2023-04-10|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> However, this may have led to a rise in inflation from 3 per cent to more than 8 per cent during 1988, which resulted in interest rates doubling to 15 per cent in the space of 18 months, and remaining high despite the [[Early 1990s recession|1990–1992 recession]] which saw unemployment rise nearly as high as the level seen before the boom began.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Duncan |first1=Gary |title=Lawson boom, Brown boom, they all bust in the end |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5019652.ece |work=[[The Times]] |date=27 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611235818/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5019652.ece |archive-date=11 June 2011}}</ref>

Lawson reflected on the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]] in his memoir and wrote that the 1987 manifesto was not thought through properly and if it had not been for the economic growth of the country at the time, then the manifesto would have been a disaster because "as it was, it was merely an embarrassment".{{sfn|Lawson|1992|page=246}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=John|title=Margaret Thatcher Volume Two: The Iron Lady|date=30 April 2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4464-2008-9|page=515}}</ref>

The March 1988 budget was remembered for taking almost two hours to deliver due to continuous interruptions and protest from opposition members. [[Scottish National Party]] MP [[Alex Salmond]] was [[Suspension from the UK parliament|suspended from the House]], and several MPs voted against the amendment of the law bill (which is typically agreed by all members of the House).<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC Budget 97|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/budget97/background/interrupt.shtml|access-date=2023-04-10|publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Hansard|url=1988/mar/15/income-tax}}</ref>

Lawson opposed the introduction of the [[Community Charge]] (nicknamed "the [[poll tax]]") as a replacement for the previous [[Rates (tax)|rating system]] for the local financing element of local government revenue. His dissent was confined to deliberations within the Cabinet, where he found few allies and where he was overruled by the Prime Minister and by the ministerial team of the department responsible ([[Department of the Environment (United Kingdom)|Department of the Environment]]).<ref name="BBC-obit" />

The issue of exchange-rate mechanism membership continued to fester between Lawson and Thatcher and was exacerbated by the re-employment by Thatcher of [[Alan Walters]] as a personal economic adviser.<ref>{{cite news |title=Thatcher pays tribute to Walters |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7812036.stm |access-date=10 April 2023 |work=BBC News |date=5 January 2009}}</ref>

==== Resignation ====
After a further year in office in these circumstances, Lawson felt that public criticism from Walters (who favoured a [[floating exchange rate]]) was making his job impossible and he resigned.<ref name=19891027guardian>{{cite news|last=Travis |first=Alan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1989/oct/27/past.christopherhuhne |title=Lawson sparks reshuffle |work=The Guardian |date= 27 October 1989|access-date=18 October 2009 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1989-12-05|title=1989: Thatcher beats off leadership rival|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/5/newsid_2528000/2528339.stm|access-date=2023-04-10}}</ref> He was succeeded in the office of chancellor by [[John Major]].<ref>{{cite web |title=John Major |url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/john-major |publisher=[[10 Downing Street]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011051246/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/john-major |archive-date=11 October 2008}}</ref>

Lawson's six-year tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer was longer than that of any of his predecessors since [[David Lloyd George]], who served from 1908 to 1915.<ref>{{cite news |title=The long and the short of stewardship at No11 |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article442274.ece |work=[[The Times]] |date=6 June 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611235646/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article442274.ece |archive-date=11 June 2011}}</ref> Both men's records were subsequently beaten by Labour's [[Gordon Brown]], who was chancellor from 1997 to 2007.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Gordon Brown |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gordon-Brown |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=4 April 2023 |date=16 February 2023}}</ref>

=== Retirement ===
[[File:Lord Nigel Lawson.jpg|thumb|Lawson in 2013]]

After retiring from [[front-bench]] politics, Lawson decided to tackle his [[weight problem]]. He was 5 feet 9&nbsp;inches (175&nbsp;cm) tall; he lost five stone (70 pounds, 30&nbsp;kg) from 17 stone, or 238 pounds (108&nbsp;kg) to 12 stone, or 168 pounds (76 kilograms) – ([[body mass index|BMI]] 34 to 24) in a matter of a few months, dramatically changing his appearance, and went on to publish the best-selling {{citeref|Lawson|1996|''The Nigel Lawson Diet Book''|style=plain}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fighting inflation with the BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/109261.stm |access-date=29 May 2023 |work=BBC News |date=8 June 1998}}</ref>

On 1 July 1992, Lawson was given a [[life peer]]age as Baron Lawson of Blaby, of [[Newnham, Northamptonshire|Newnham]] in the [[County of Northamptonshire]].<ref name=ParlProf /><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52982 |date=6 July 1992 |page=11339}}</ref>

In 1996, Lawson appeared on the [[BBC]] satirical and topical quiz show ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'', in which he secured his team a last-minute victory.<ref>{{cite web |title=Politicians |url=http://www.hignfy.net/politicians3.htm#S12Ep3 |website=[[Have I Got News for You]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927043203/http://www.hignfy.net/politicians3.htm#S12Ep3 |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> He occasionally appeared as a guest on his daughter [[Nigella Lawson|Nigella]]'s [[cookery show]]s.

Lawson served on the [[advisory board]] of the Conservative magazine ''[[Standpoint (magazine)|Standpoint]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/about-us |title=About Us |work=Standpoint |access-date=8 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011104211/http://standpointmag.co.uk/about-us |archive-date=11 October 2010  }}</ref>

In 2013, Lawson advocated [[Britain leaving the European Union]]. He argued that "economic gains [from leaving the EU] would substantially outweigh the costs".<ref>{{cite news |title=Ex-chancellor Lord Lawson calls for UK to exit EU |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22429790 |access-date=8 September 2019 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=7 May 2013}}</ref> In the [[2016 EU referendum]], he supported Leave and was appointed chairman of the [[Vote Leave]] campaign.<ref>{{cite news |title=EU referendum: Lord Lawson to chair Vote Leave campaign |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35487586 |access-date=8 September 2019 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=4 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|agency=Press Association|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/03/nigel-lawson-chairman-vote-leave-campaign-eu-referendum|title=Nigel Lawson named chairman of Vote Leave campaign|date=3 February 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 February 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Aitkenhead|first=Decca|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/02/nigel-lawson-on-brexit-i-love-europe-but-eu-has-no-purpose|title=Nigel Lawson on Brexit: 'I love Europe! That's why I live in France. But the EU has no purpose'|date=2 April 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 February 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==== Corporate roles ====
* 2007: Chairman of Central Europe Trust Company Ltd (CET)<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.cet.co.uk/Personnel.htm
 |title       = CET's Practice Leaders
 |publisher   = CET
 |access-date  = 3 October 2008
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081224210554/http://www.cet.co.uk/Personnel.htm
 |archive-date = 24 December 2008
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>
* 2007: Chairman of Oxford Investment Partners<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.oxip.co.uk/the_board.php?identity=the_board
|title=The Board
|publisher=Oxford Investment Partners
|access-date=3 October 2008}}{{dead|date=May 2023}}</ref>

=== Expenses scandal ===
During the [[United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal]], it was reported that Lawson claimed £16,000 in overnight allowances by registering his [[farmhouse]] in Gascony as his [[main residence]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/3815228/Lords-expenses-claims-top-18-million.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/3815228/Lords-expenses-claims-top-18-million.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Lords' expenses claims top £18 million|first1=Katriona|last1=MacGregor|first2=Rosa|last2=Prince|date=17 December 2008|access-date=13 October 2017|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Position on global warming ===
Lawson was involved with the [[climate change denial]] movement and believed that the impact of [[man-made global warming]] had been exaggerated.<ref name="Kazmi 2015">{{cite book |last=Kazmi |first=Azhar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ByWDCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA393 |title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Economics and Society |date=19 November 2015 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-1-5063-4617-5 |editor-last1=Wherry |editor-first1=Frederick F. |page=393 |section=Climate Denial Movement |editor-last2=Schor |editor-first2=Juliet B.}}</ref>

In 2004, along with six others, Lawson wrote a letter to ''[[The Times]]'' opposing the [[Kyoto Protocol]] and claiming that there were substantial scientific uncertainties surrounding [[climate change]].<ref name=20041004globalwarming>{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Iain |title=Distinguished signatories take on British political consensus |publisher=[[Cooler Heads Coalition]] |date=October 8, 2004 |url=http://www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=795 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911190004/http://www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=795 |archive-date=2007-09-11 }}</ref> In 2005, the [[House of Lords]] Economics Affairs [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|Select Committee]], with Lawson as a member, undertook an inquiry into climate change. In their report, the committee recommended the [[HM Treasury]] take a more active role in [[Politics of climate change|climate policy]], questioned the objectivity of the [[IPCC]] process, and suggested changes in the UK's contribution to future international climate change negotiations.<ref>{{cite web |author=House of Lords, Select Committee on Economic Affairs |year=2005 |title=The Economics of Climate Change |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldselect/ldeconaf/12/12i.pdf |publisher=UK Parliament |language=en-US |access-date=14 March 2007}}</ref> The report cited a mismatch between the economic costs and benefits of climate policy and also criticised the [[greenhouse gas]] emission reduction targets set in the Kyoto Protocol. In response to the report, Michael Grubb, [[chief economist]] of the [[Carbon Trust]], wrote an article in ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]]'' magazine, defending the Kyoto Protocol and describing the committee's report as being "strikingly inconsistent".<ref>{{cite web |last=Grubb |first=Michael |date=1 September 2005 |title=Stick to the Target |url=http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/faculty/grubb/publications/GA09.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910213846/http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/faculty/grubb/publications/GA09.pdf |archive-date=10 September 2008 |access-date=24 January 2008}}</ref> Lawson responded to Grubb's article, describing it as an example of the "intellectual bankruptcy of the [...] climate change establishment". Lawson also said that Kyoto's approach was "wrong-headed" and called on the IPCC to be "shut down".<ref name=20051101prospect-magazine>{{cite web |last=Lawson |first=Nigel |date=1 November 2005 |title=Against Kyoto |url=http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?search_term=lawson&id=7117 |website=Prospect |access-date=20 November 2007}}</ref>

At about the same time as the release of the House of Lords report, the UK Government launched the [[Stern Review]], an inquiry undertaken by the HM Treasury and headed by [[Lord Stern of Brentford]]. According to the Stern Review, published in 2006, the potential costs of climate change far exceed the costs of a programme to stabilise the climate. Lawson's lecture to the [[Centre for Policy Studies]] (CPS) [[think tank]], published 1 November 2006, opposed the Stern Review and advocated adaptation to changes in global climate rather than reducing [[greenhouse gas emissions]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Lecture on the Economics and Politics of Climate Change – An Appeal to Reason |url=http://ff.org/centers/csspp/library/co2weekly/20061115/20061115_08.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214005336/http://ff.org/centers/csspp/library/co2weekly/20061115/20061115_08.html |archive-date=14 December 2006 |publisher=Centre for Policy Studies |language=en-GB |date=1 November 2006 |access-date=14 March 2007}}</ref>

In 2008, Lawson published a book expanding on his 2006 lecture to the CPS, ''[[An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lawson |first=Nigel |date=6 April 2008 |title=Lord Lawson claims climate change hysteria heralds a 'new age of unreason' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/04/06/ealawson106.xml |location=London |work=The Sunday Telegraph |access-date=19 April 2008}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> He argued the case that, although global warming is happening, the impact of these changes will be relatively moderate rather than apocalyptic. He criticised those "[[alarmist]]" politicians and scientists who predict catastrophe unless [[Climate change mitigation|urgent action]] is taken.

In July 2008, the Conservative magazine ''Standpoint'' published a transcript of a double interview with Lawson and Conservative Policy Chief [[Oliver Letwin]], in which Lawson described Letwin's views on global warming as "pie in the sky" and called on him and the Conservative frontbench to "get real".<ref name=20080720standpointmag>{{cite web |title=The Politics of Climate Change |url=http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/dialogue-july?page=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C6 |work=Standpoint |language=en-GB |date=20 July 2008 |access-date=18 October 2009 |archive-date=7 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107063613/http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/dialogue-july?page=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C6 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 23 November 2009, Lawson became chairman of a new think tank, [[The Global Warming Policy Foundation]] (GWPF),<ref name=ParlProf /><ref name="nige 9 nov">{{cite news |last=Lawson |first=Nigel |date=23 November 2009 |title=Copenhagen will fail – and quite right too |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6927598.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106170050/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6927598.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 January 2010 |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |language=en-GB |access-date=26 February 2010}}</ref> a registered education charity,<ref name=20130218guardian>{{cite news |last=Monbiot |first=George |date=18 February 2013 |title=The educational charities that do PR for the rightwing ultra-rich |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/18/charities-pr-rightwing-ultra-rich |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> involved in promoting climate change denial.<ref name="Kazmi 2015" />

In 2011, [[Bob Ward (communications director)|Bob Ward]] of the [[Grantham Research Institute]] said that the GWPF was "spreading errors" and "the 'facts{{'"}} Lawson "repeats are demonstrably inaccurate".<ref name=bob>{{cite news |last=Ward |first=Bob |date=21 October 2011 |title=Lord Lawson's Global Warming Policy Foundation is spreading errors |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/oct/21/lord-lawson-global-warming-errors?INTCMP=SRCH |work=The Guardian |language=en-US |access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref> Ward also criticised Lawson for repeating in a 2010 BBC radio debate that [[Antarctic ice sheet|Antarctic ice]] volumes were unchanged even after his error was highlighted by his opponent, Professor [[Kevin Anderson (scientist)|Kevin Anderson]].<ref name=bob /> Ward said that Lawson provided no evidence to back his claim which is contrary to satellite measurements, and Lawson similarly incorrectly implied that the correlation between {{CO2|link=yes}} and sea levels was uncertain as well as that [[Sea level rise|sea levels were rising]] more slowly since 1950 than before it.<ref name=bob />

The [[Charity Commission]] requires that statements by campaigning charities "must be factually accurate and have a legitimate evidence base". They reviewed the GWPF, which was subsequently split with its campaigning arm and renamed the Global Warming Policy Forum without [[charitable status]], while the charitable section retained the original title.<ref name="bob" /> Lawson's son, [[Dominic Lawson]], is also a [[climate change denier]], taking a similar viewpoint as his father in his columns in the ''[[Independent on Sunday]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lawson |first=Dominic |date=22 September 2006 |title=The debate on climate change is far too important to be shut down by the scientists |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-the-debate-on-climate-change-is-far-too-important-to-be-shut-down-by-the-scientists-416998.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-the-debate-on-climate-change-is-far-too-important-to-be-shut-down-by-the-scientists-416998.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |location=London |work=The Independent on Sunday |language=en-GB |access-date=20 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lawson |first=Dominic |date=23 November 2007 |title=Dominic Lawson: Fight climate change? Or stay competitive? I'm afraid these two aims are incompatible |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-fight-climate-change-or-stay-competitive-im-afraid-these-two-aims-are-incompatible-760078.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-fight-climate-change-or-stay-competitive-im-afraid-these-two-aims-are-incompatible-760078.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |location=London |work=The Independent on Sunday |language=en-GB |access-date=20 April 2008}}</ref>

In a [[BBC Radio]] interview in August 2017, Lawson claimed that "official figures" showed "average world temperature has slightly declined" over the preceding decade and that experts in the IPCC found no increase in [[extreme weather]] events. In a follow-up programme on the BBC's presentation of these claims, [[Peter A. Stott]] of the [[Met Office]] said Lawson was wrong on both points.<ref name="McGrath 2017">{{cite news |last=McGrath |first=Matt |date=11 August 2017 |title=Anger over 'untrue' climate claims |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40899188 |work=BBC News |language=en-US |access-date=25 October 2017}}</ref>

=== Economy ===
Lawson was a critic of [[David Cameron]]'s [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|coalition government]] economic policy, describing spending cuts consultation plans as a "PR ploy".<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Curtis|first1=Polly|last2=Wintour|first2=Patrick|date=2010-06-08|title=Spending cuts consultation is a PR ploy, says Nigel Lawson|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/jun/08/nigel-lawson-osborne-cuts-consultation|access-date=2023-05-29|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In November 2011, he called for the "orderly" dismantling of the [[eurozone]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hencke |first1=David |author1-link=David Hencke |title=Europe 'must dismantle euro in orderly way,' says Lawson |url=https://exaro.news/europe-must-dismantle-euro-in-orderly-way-says-lawson |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=[[Exaro News]] |via=Exaro News Archive |date=24 November 2011 |archive-date=16 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516143602/https://exaro.news/europe-must-dismantle-euro-in-orderly-way-says-lawson |url-status=dead }}</ref>