News

Sir Alan Walters, a top economic adviser to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has died at age 82.

His wife, Margaret Patricia Walters, said her husband died Saturday after suffering from Parkinson's Disease for seven years. The couple celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary on Dec. 27.

Thatcher, who has also been in poor health recently, released a statement praising Walters for his acumen and loyalty.

“Alan Walters was the best economic adviser any prime minister ever had — radical, fearless, consistent and creative,” she said. “He was a great public servant and, to me personally, he was the truest of friends.”

Sir Alan persuaded Ms. Thatcher to take one of her biggest risks by raising taxes during a recession in 1981. The decision was later credited with helping to lay the foundation for Britain's sustained growth in the 1990s.

An outspoken aide, Sir Alan also played a key role in the 1989 resignation of British Chancellor Nigel Lawson— an event that eventually helped lead to Thatcher's political demise. Mr. Lawson accused Sir Alan of interfering in Treasury matters and resigned when Thatcher refused to remove Sir Alan from his advisory post.

Sir Alan, who was skeptical about Britain seeking an increased financial union with mainland Europe, clashed repeatedly with Mr. Lawson over the direction of economic policy. He called plans for Britain to join the European Monetary Union “half baked.”

Sir Alan also left the government right after Mr. Lawson's departure, and Ms. Thatcher — politically hurt by the fight — was forced from office a year later.

Sir Alan went on to pursue a lengthy career in the private sector and working in academic fields. He later joined the U.S. insurance firm AIG Trading Group as a vice chairman.

He received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth in 1983.

Born into a working-class family in 1926, Sir Alan worked in a munitions factory and a surveyor's office before attending Nuffield College at Oxford. He taught economics in Britain and the United States before moving into senior government posts.

Sir Alan is survived by his wife and a daughter, Louise, from a previous marriage. He is also survived by two grandchildren.