London, Apr 3 (BLAZETRENDS).- Conservative politician Nigel Lawson, finance minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government and architect of her controversial fiscal policy, has died at the age of 91, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reported.
Lawson was one of the most respected figures on the right in the UK, and became world famous in the 1980s when, as Thatcher’s Chancellor of the Exchequer for six years (1983-1989), he launched an aggressive program of lowering taxes.
He is still considered today as the most important member of the “Thatcherite” cabinet and one of the decisive figures in the ultra-liberal revolution of the eighties.
“One of the first things I did as chancellor was hang a picture of Nigel Lawson above my desk,” Sunak said on Twitter when announcing the news of his death.
“He was a transformational chancellor (of the Exchequer) and an inspiration to me and many others,” the prime minister said.
The tax cuts promoted by Lawson, who lowered the average rate of income tax from 29% to 25% and the highest bracket to 40%, led to a rapid economic “boom”, although it is also believed that they were behind the rampant inflation at that time.
However, his disagreements with Thatcher on economic policy ended his stay in the Government, where he had also been Minister of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury.
Some time later, he clearly positioned himself in favor of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, to the point of presiding over the pro-Brexit campaign.
He also stood out in recent years for becoming a climate change denier, an issue on which he published some books.
Lawson had six children, although one of them, Nigela, surpassed him in popularity among the younger generations by becoming a prestigious chef and television star.
