TV chef Nigella Lawson breaks her silence after her father Nigel Lawson’s death aged 91 – as the world of politics pays tribute to Margaret Thatcher’s tax-cutting Tory chancellor
Nigella Lawson has broken her silence after her father Nigel Lawson died this week aged 91.
Lord Lawson, whose political career spanned nearly five decades, served in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet from 1981 to 1989, with six years as her tax-cutting chancellor, before retiring as a backbench MP in 1992 and joining the Lords.
He retired from politics altogether in December, with his last major contribution coming as a prominent leader of the Vote Leave campaign ahead of the Brexit referendum.
On Twitter on earlier today, TV chef Ms Lawson, 63, thanked her followers for their ‘kind’ support.
She wrote: ‘Thank you for all your kind messages. And I’ll be back on here properly tomorrow.’
On Twitter on earlier today, the TV chef, 63, thanked her followers for their ‘kind’ support. Pictured: Nigella Lawson and her father Nigel Lawson pictured at the launch party of ‘Domestic Goddess’ – Nigella’s fifth cookery book
Nigella Lawson and Nigel Lawson pictured together in 2008 in London
Former Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson, who served in Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet in the 1980s, died age 91. He is pictured here with Ms Thatcher at Number 10
Nigella is one of Mr Lawson’s six children alongside journalist Dominic Lawson and headmaster of Eastbourne College, Tom Lawson. She is the daughter of Mr Lawson’s fifth wife Vanessa Salmon, who was heiress to the J. Lyons and Co. fortune but tragically died age 48 from liver cancer in 1985 when Nigella was 25.
Following Mr Lawson’s death, Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson paid touching tributes to the ‘fearless’ tax-cutter.
The Prime Minister described the party grandee and leading Brexiteer as an ‘inspiration’ while Mr Johnson marked him as a ‘giant’ of Tory politics.
Mr Sunak said: ‘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.’
Mr Johnson said: ‘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. He was a prophet of Brexit and a lover of continental Europe. He was a giant. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.’
Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool in October 1989
Nigel Lawson holds aloft the budget box outside 11 Downing Street on Budget day 1984
Nigel Lawson is pictured posing with his wife Therese, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Tory party chairman Kenneth Baker after giving his economic speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool on October 12, 1989
Lord Lawson was a prominent leader of the Vote Leave campaign before the Brexit referendum. He is pictured in May 2016 at the premiere of Brexit: The Movie in London
Deputy PM Dominic Raab said: ‘Saddened to learn of the passing of Nigel Lawson. He was a giant who changed the political weather, a lodestar for Conservatives, and a kind man always generous with his wisdom.’
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said Lord Lawson’s shoes ‘have been impossible to fill’. He added: ‘Nigel Lawson was a rarity amongst politicians, someone who transformed our thinking as well as transforming our economy.’
Lord Lawson was educated at Westminster School in London and Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained a first in PPE.
Before entering Parliament he had a distinguished career as a journalist, starting out at the Financial Times in 1956 and moving on to The Sunday Telegraph before becoming editor of The Spectator magazine in 1966, a post he held for four years.
He also spent a year as a speech writer to prime minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home.
After standing unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in Eton and Slough in 1970, he won the safe Blaby seat in 1974, entering Parliament shortly before his 42nd birthday. Within two years he had been appointed an Opposition whip and in 1977 was made a spokesman on Treasury affairs.
A neo-liberal, he was appointed financial secretary to the Treasury when the party came to power under Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
Nigel Lawson in action during a visit in his constituency
Lord Lawson poses for a portrait at the Oxford Literary Festival on April 5, 2011
Douglas Hurd, Ronnie Corbett and Lord Lawson prior to seminar at Lancaster House to promote payroll giving to charity
Nigel Lawson is pictured outside 11 Downing Street in November 1984 prior to giving his Autumn Economic Statement in the House of Commons
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led tributes to Lord Lawson on Monday night
Former PM Boris Johnson hailed Lord Lawson as a ‘fearless and original flame of free-market Conservatism’
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called Lord Lawson a ‘true statesman’
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said Nigel Lawson was a ‘giant who changed the political weather
Ex-chancellor Sajid Javid also paid tribute to the late politician
He left office as chancellor with the economy in good shape, having turned a deficit of £10.5billion when he took office to a surplus of £4.1billion when he stood down. A leading figure in the drive to privatise state-owned companies, he laid the foundations for the flotations of a number of firms including British Gas, British Airways and BT. ‘We are seeing the birth of people’s capitalism,’ he once said.
In 1981 he entered the Cabinet as energy secretary and in 1983 began a six-year stint as chancellor.
As well as his tax-cutting, he also championed wider share ownership and free-market economics, forming the backbone of Mrs Thatcher’s vision for Britain in the 1980s – though some blamed him for failing to control a boom that ended in a surge in interest rates and a deep recession.
While Lord Lawson shared Mrs Thatcher’s economic philosophy, he opposed the introduction of the poll tax and, with foreign secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe, pushed the PM to join the ill-fated European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
After retiring from frontbench politics, 17-stone Lord Lawson famously lost five stone, dramatically changing his appearance and going on to publish The Nigel Lawson Diet Book. He began sitting in the Lords as a life peer in 1992, serving in the upper chamber until December 31.
He remained active in politics as president of Conservatives for Britain, which campaigned to leave the EU, and chaired Vote Leave during the referendum.
Lord Lawson and his first wife Vanessa Salmon, heiress to the Lyons Corner House restaurant chain, married in 1955 and had four children – Daily Mail columnist Dominic, celebrity cook Nigella, Thomasina, who died from breast cancer aged 32, and Horatia.
The Lawsons divorced in 1980 before he married former Commons researcher Therese Maclear. They had two children, Tom and Emily, before divorcing in 2011.
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