From Javid to Lawson Anatomy of the resignation of a Tory Chancellor
Last week Sajid Javid resigned his job as Chancellor.
According to the media and indeed Javid himself the issue was that Johnson and Cummings wanted to sack Javid’s advisors and bring the Treasury under the control of No.10.
That is what has now happened. It is a split in Tory policy. Javid had just announced more austerity cuts. Johnson while hardly against austerity (for us) may have other policies (once Cummings has told him what they are).
Only once before has a Chancellor resigned (as opposed to being sacked or reshuffled to another role) and that Nigel Lawson in October 1989. He was pro further EU integration and was for aligning the Pound with the European Monetary System. Thatcher and most particularly her advisor Alan Walters did not agree.
Lawson walked out and John Major became Chancellor. He got Britain into the EMS only to find that on Black Wednesday 16th September 1992 his then Chancellor Lamont (he had become PM in the meantime) had to leave in a hurry as interest rates soared to 15% for a few hours.
Once one looks at the background to Lawson’s resignation one can begin to understand the scale of the crisis that Johnson is involved in. It requires a history of the present, although I’m not sure it is one that will be written.
It was announced on the 6 o’clock news that Nigel Lawson, Chancellor of the Exchequer had resigned because he was not prepared to work with Thatcher’s economic adviser, Professor Alan Walters… It is an enormous political event
Benn Thursday 26th October 1989
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