Norman Lamont

Norman Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, PC is a distinguished name in both the political and financial spheres. He served as Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames for 25 years and was an influential figure in successive governments under Margaret Thatcher and John Major. During this time, he worked in the Departments of Energy, Industry, Defence and the Treasury, eventually rising to the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, where he famously presided over the withdrawal of sterling from the Exchange Rate Mechanism, known as Black Wednesday, and negotiating the Maastricht Treaty. Sir Alan Walters described him as “not only the most effective but also the bravest Chancellor since the War”. He was made life peer in 1998, following a recommendation from William Hague.

Lamont serves as a director of and a consultant to numerous companies in the financial services. He is a director of the hedge fund company RAB Capital, a non-executive director of Balli Group PLC, an advisor to Rotch Property Group, and a director of several investment funds. Lamont holds the position of Honorary President of the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce and sits on the advisory board of OMFIF. Before entering Parliament, he worked for N M Rothschild & Sons, the investment bank, and became director of Rothschild Asset Management.

In recent years, Lamont has been in the public eye due to his stance on Britain’s relationship with the EU, and is now regarded as a staunch euro-sceptic. In 1995 he authored Sovereign Britain in which he envisaged Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. He is the current Vice President of the euro-sceptic Bruges Group, and a supporter of the euro-sceptic group Leave Means Leave.