Lord Norman Lamont

Norman Lamont, The Rt Hon Lord Lamont of Lerwick, was Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury Secretary, 1990-93) in the cabinet of John Major and Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Margaret Thatcher. A Conservative MP for twenty five years, he was appointed a Member of the House of Lords in 1998.

During his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he enacted many innovative and bold reforms after Britain’s withdrawal from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), the precursor to the euro.  He increased transparency and market credibility, and spearheaded the use of inflation targeting.  With these measures, he introduced a very tough budget that reduced government borrowing.

Norman Lamont’s policies are regarded by many economists as responsible for reducing and maintaining low inflation and for laying the foundations for the long period of economic expansion that followed. Sir Alan Walters, former Economic Advisor to Margaret Thatcher, wrote in a letter to The Times on 25th August 2001:

“All the difficult and correct decisions that produced this happy state of affairs were taken and implemented by Norman Lamont, who thus showed himself to be not only the most effective but also the bravest Chancellor since the War.”

In many ways the difficulties he faced were similar to the financial crisis confronting the world today.

Norman Lamont was Britain’s Chief Negotiator at the Maastricht Treaty which created the euro.  He was then, and remains today, a strong opponent of Britain joining the euro.

When he was Chancellor, he appointed as his political advisor 26-year-old David Cameron, now the Prime Minister of the UK. In 2008, David Cameron asked Norman to be part of a team of former Chancellors to advise on Britain’s financial crisis and he remains so today.

Norman was Chairman of the G7 Group of Finance Ministers and the EU Group of Finance Ministers and was also heavily involved with President Gorbachev’s and Yeltsin’s economic reforms in Russia.

Norman Lamont was Chairman of the foreign affairs group, Le Cercle, Honorary Patron of the Oxford University Society and is non-executive director of a number of financial companies.

Prior to becoming a MP, Norman Lamont was a Merchant Banker with NM Rothschild and Sons, whom he joined after reading Economics at Cambridge.

Norman Lamont talks to audiences around the world on Finance, Economics, Politics and Regulation.