Chairman: Rt Hon. Lord Lamont of Lerwick, Chancellor of Exchequer 1990-1993

Lord Lamont (Norman Lamont) was at the centre of British politics for many years. He was a Cabinet Minister under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and was a member of the House of Commons for twenty-five years. He was heavily involved in the Thatcher reforms including privatisation that transformed the British economy. He was a Minister also in the Departments of Energy, Defence and Industry.

Norman Lamont was Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) from l990-l993 and introduced three Budgets. He inherited the policy of membership of the ERM, which made it a difficult and controversial time to be Chancellor. This culminated in Britain’s exit from the ERM in September 1992.

He was much criticised at the time but there has been a significant reassessment of his policies recently. Economists and financial journalists have attributed much of the economic stability and low inflation enjoyed by Gordon Brown to the policies introduced by Norman Lamont after Britain’s exit from the ERM in September l992. These new policies included a new monetary framework for the Bank of England and a tough tax raising Budget in l993. Sir Alan Walters, economic advisor to Lady Thatcher, and Bernard Connolly, in a letter to the Times described Lord Lamont in his “post ERM phase”…. “to be not only the most effective but also the bravest Chancellor since the war”.

In 1998 Norman Lamont published a self-deprecating and amusing account of his time as Chancellor under the title "In Office". His book was described in the Independent newspaper as "Out of the top drawer of political memoirs".

Currently Lord Lamont, as well as being a working Peer, is a director of, and a consultant to a number of companies in the financial sector. He is a director of RAB Capital (a hedge fund company), Scottish Re (a reinsurance company quoted on the New York Stock Exchange), Balli plc (a commodities trading house), and he is an adviser to Rotch Property. He is also Chairman of the East European Food Fund and a director of a number of investment funds.

Prior to becoming a MP Norman Lamont was an Investment Banker with N M Rothschild and Sons.

He was made a Life Peer in July 1998, and sits on the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee.