Norman Lamont
Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 to 1993, in office on Black Wednesday.
Norman Lamont was Conservative Chancellor from November 1990 to May 1993 and was at the Treasury on 16 September 1992, Black Wednesday, when sterling left the Exchange Rate Mechanism.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Norman Lamont
ONS puts borrowing £8.1bn over OBR path
Is Britain Actually Broke?Background
Norman Lamont is the Chancellor whose 1992-93 borrowing finished FAR above his Budget forecast after recession cut receipts and lifted welfare spending. That is the closest precedent for 2026's borrowing overshoot against the OBR's path.
He was Chancellor from November 1990 to May 1993 under John Major. His Budget of 10 March 1992 forecast a public sector borrowing requirement for 1992-93 of "about £28 billion", some 4% of GDP. On 16 September 1992, Black Wednesday, sterling left the Exchange Rate Mechanism. He left the Treasury in May 1993 after refusing a move to another department. He was MP for Kingston upon Thames from 1972 to 1997, and became a life peer as Lord Lamont of Lerwick in 1998.
His tenure shows how fast a recession can blow a borrowing forecast apart within a single financial year.