Nigel Lawson: Former Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson dies aged 91

[LeftishBrit]

The former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson has died at the age of 91. Lawson was the MP for the Blaby constituency from 1974 to 1992 and served in numerous cabinet positions in the government of Margaret Thatcher.

He became chancellor in 1983 and oversaw a period of economic growth known as the Lawson Boom before resigning in 1989 amid disagreements with Thatcher over policy....


The former prime minister Boris Johnson described Lawson as a “giant” and an “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,” he wrote...

He remained active in politics throughout his later years, serving as president of pro-Brexit campaign group Conservatives for Britain and as chairman of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a thinktank promoting scepticism about climate change.

(More at link):

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/03/former-conservative-chancellor-nigel-lawson-dies-aged-91

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. I wasn't a fan of his when he was in government, and he became worse, with climate denial

He really was a danger to the future. The sooner people with his attitudes die off or give up their selfishness, the better.

[LeftishBrit]

2. While I have to admit...

that my reaction to the news included a mutter of 'the good die young', i don't see such attitudes dying out any time soon. Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch and some true extremists like Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen were born in the 80s. Across the pond, Ron deSantis and Josh Hawley were born in the late 70s, Candace Owens in the late 80s, and Madison Cawthorn in 1995.

[T_i_B]

3. We are at a stage now....

...where my generation is getting into power. The Prime Minister is younger than me, and I grew up knowing Oliver Coppard, who is now the Mayor of Sheffield.

To be honest, as long as there exists a market for spiteful, bigoted politics there will be grifters who seek to ride that bandwagon. The question is how to attract the decent people into politics and it isn't an easy one.