Dominic Ralph Campden Lawson (born 17 December 1956) is a British journalist.
Contents |
Background
Educated at Westminster School and then Christ Church, Oxford, he is the son of a former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lawson and socialite Vanessa Salmon, heir to the Lyons Corner House empire, who died of liver cancer in 1985. Lawson had three sisters - TV chef and writer Nigella Lawson; Horatia; and Thomasina, who died of breast cancer in 1993 whilst in her early 30s. Through the Salmons he is a cousin to the journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot and the solicitor Fiona Shackleton.
Lawson is married to the The Honourable Rosamond Mary Monckton, daughter of the 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley. The Lawsons have two daughters (another daughter, Natalia, was stillborn some years ago), Domenica and Savannah; Domenica has Down's syndrome. Rosa Monckton is a patron of the disabled childrens charity KIDS [1] and is involved in Down's charity work. Rosa Monckton has talked to the press about how Down's has affected her and her daughters' lives.[2]
Career
Lawson joined the BBC as a researcher, and then wrote for the Financial Times. From 1990 until 1995 he served as the editor of The Spectator magazine, a post his father had occupied from 1966 to 1970. In his capacity as editor of The Spectator he conducted, in June 1990, an interview with the cabinet minister Nicholas Ridley in which Ridley expressed opinions immensely hostile to Germany and the European Community, likening the initiatives of Jacques Delors and others to those of Hitler. Lawson added to the damage caused, by claiming that the opinions expressed by Ridley were shared by the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Ridley was forced to resign from the cabinet shortly after this incident.
Lawson has several times been accused of working with MI6 (by for instance Richard Tomlinson), but has denied being an agent.[3]
From 1995 Lawson was editor of The Sunday Telegraph until 2005, when he was dismissed and replaced by Sarah Sands. He is currently an Editorial and Opinion writer for The Independent and other titles including the Mail on Sunday. Since 2006, he has been a columnist for The Independent newspaper, where he usually takes lines contrary to the newspaper's general political position. For example he does not believe global warming is caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions, attributing it to solar radiation. The solar radiation argument formed the basis of Channel 4's "The Great Global Warming Swindle" programme. Also he writes a weekly column for The Sunday Times.
References
- ^ [1], KIDS - Our Patrons
- ^ "My Down's daughter changed my life", Daily Mail, 14 November 2007. Retrieved on 25 April 2009.
- ^ "Editor 'provided cover for spies'", The Guardian, 26 January 2001. Retrieved on 1 April 2007.
Publications
- Lawson, Dominic, The Inner Game, Hardinge Simpole Limited, 2008, ISBN 1-843-82137-0
- Diamond, John, Dawkins, Richard (Foreword), Dominic Lawson (Editor), Snake Oil and Other Preoccupations , Vintage, 2001, ISBN 0-09-942833-4
- Lawson, Dominic, End Game: Kasparov vs. Short, Harmony, 1994, ISBN 0-517-59810-8
External links
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Moore |
Editor of The Spectator 1990–1995 |
Succeeded by Frank Johnson |
| Preceded by Charles Moore |
Editor of The Sunday Telegraph 1995–2005 |
Succeeded by Sarah Sands |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
