Ruth Jane Lea, Baroness Lea of Lymm, (born 22 September 1947) is a British parliamentarian and political economist.www.brugesgroup.com
/ref> Lady Lea entered HM Civil Service, before being recruited by the Institute of Directors, a private-sector employer lobbyist, as well as working for policy research bodies and the media. She was Arbuthnot Banking Group's Economic Adviser from 2007 to 2022 and served as an Independent Non-Executive Director from 2005 until 2016.

Biography

Early life and education

Born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

to a farming family, Lea attended Lymm Grammar School before going up to the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

( BA) then pursuing postgraduate studies at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

( MSc). She also studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

in 1973.

Career

Lea served almost 16 years in the British Civil Service, working in

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Central Statistical Office and at the Civil Service College, and was also a Lecturer at Thames Polytechnic (now Greenwich University). In 1988, she joined Mitsubishi Bank in the

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

rising to Chief Economist and became a regular

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and radio commentator on economic matters. She was UK Economist at Lehman Brothers for one year until 1994, before her appointment as

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

's Economics Editor, and subsequently

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

of the Policy Unit at the Institute of Directors, a post she held from 1995 to 2003. Lea was Director of the

Centre for Policy Studies The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a centre-right think tanks, think tank and advocacy group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," lo ...

from 2004 to 2007 and of Global Vision from 2007 to 2010. Lea is a prolific writer on economic and business issues. A vocal critic of New Labour's economic policies, arguing that " big state" profligacy undermined both UK public finances and economic competitiveness. Deeply concerned about Britain's high cost and fragile energy policies, she has consistently argued they damage business competitiveness and suggests Britain's trust in

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

policies is unlikely to have much impact on global carbon dioxide emissions given that the UK accounts for only 1½% of the global total. A robust and consistent opponent of UK membership of the

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

grounds, Lea advocated a reformed relationship between the EU and Britain, proposing, as necessary, renegotiated EU membership terms similar to a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

-style agreement with Europe; ''qv.''

European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. ...

. She supported

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

. Having served on the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

s of

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

and the

Royal Economic Society The Royal Economic Society (RES) is a professional association and learned society that promotes the study of economics. Originally established in 1890 as the British Economic Association, it was incorporated by royal charter on 2 December 1902. ...

, the National Consumer Council, the Nurses' Pay Review Body, the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

Advisory Committee, the Economic and Social Research Priorities Board, the Retail Prices Advisory Committee and the Institute of Economic Affairs Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, she has served as a judge for several national achievement awards, and as a

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the

. Lea was Economic Adviser to the Arbuthnot Banking Group 2007-2022 and was a non-executive director 2005–16.

Honours and awards

Lea was a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

and of the Royal Statistical Society. She has also been admitted a Freeman of the City of London and elected an Honorary Liveryman of the Curriers' Company and a Liveryman of the World Traders Company. Lea was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours List for "services to the financial and economic sectors". She has been awarded

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s by the University of Greenwich, BPP University College and the University of Chester ( Hon DBA). It was announced on 14 October 2022, that as part of Boris Johnson's 2022 Political Honours, Lea would receive a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

. On 31 October 2022, she was created Baroness Lea of Lymm, ''of Lymm in the Borough of Warrington in the County of Cheshire'' taking her seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on 1 November 2022.

Views on climate change

Lady Lea is a critic of the control of greenhouse gases, claiming that "the climate system is far too complex for modest reductions in one of the thousands of factors involved in climate change (''ie.'' carbon emissions) to have a predictable effect in magnitude, or even direction".Ruth Lea (31 October 2006). "Just another excuse for higher taxes". London: ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' Lea argues against the ability of individual nation states doing much (other than contributing to inflationary tendencies) to combat climate change without concerted global efforts.

References