Nigel Vinson, Baron Vinson, LVO (born 27 January 1931), is a British entrepreneur, inventor, philanthropist, and former Conservative member of the House of Lords.

Early life and education Nigel Vinson was born on 27 January 1931, the second son of Ronald Vinson (d. 1976), a gentleman farmer of Huguenot descent, and his second wife, Bettina Myra Olivia (d. 1966), the daughter of a general practitioner, Gerald Southwell-Sander.

Vinson grew up in a wealthy family, participating in activities such as fishing, riding, and shooting on his father's property. Before the Second World War, the family employed five servants.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 1- To the manor born, pp. 1-10, AppendixPeople of Today, Debrett's Ltd, 2008, p. 1668Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, ed. Charles Kidd, Debrett's Ltd, 2008, p. 1440

He was educated at Brambletye School and later at Pangbourne College. Although he qualified for a place at the University of London, his lack of a classics qualification prevented entry to Oxford or Cambridge. He chose to pursue practical business experience instead of a university degree.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 1- To the manor born, pp. 6-13

After finishing school, he served in the Queen's Royal Regiment from 1948 to 1950, reaching the rank of lieutenant.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 1- To the manor born, p. 15Dod's Parliamentary Companion, 178th ed., Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd, 1997, p. 363

Early career In 1952, Vinson founded a small plastics company, called Durable Plastics, with two employees, later named Plastic Coatings.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 2- Walking the Ship, p. 12 Operating from a Nissen hut in Guildford, the company was among the first in the UK to apply plastic coatings to metal for industrial use.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 2- Walking the Ship, p. 13 By 1969, when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange, the company employed over 1,000 workers across five locations and received the Queen's Award for Industry in 1971. At the time of the flotation, Vinson allocated 10% of the company's shares to its employees before selling his stake to Imperial Tobacco and stepping down as executive chairman a year later.Gerald Frost, Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Biteback, London, 2015Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 2- Walking the Ship, p. 15

He later served as Deputy Chairman of Electra Investment Trust from 1990 to 1998.

Political career Vinson left his full-time business career to reverse what he viewed as economic and political trends that would harm Britain's prosperity and freedoms.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 5- Changing the Political Weather and Serving the Queen, p. 25

Political philosophy Vinson aimed to promote the concept of a social market economy, defined as policies which work with and through the market to achieve wider social aims.This is different from the use of the term Social market economy in German and other European politics.

Political candidature In 1974, Vinson sought to be selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Aldershot, though the attempt was unsuccessful.

Political think tanks Also in 1974 Vinson was introduced to Antony Fisher, founder of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), and financially supported the IEA during a period of financial difficulty.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 5- Changing the Political Weather and Serving the Queen, p. 26 Vinson later became an IEA trustee, chaired its board from 1989 to 1995, and was named life IEA vice-president. He also became a close associate of Ralph Harris (later Lord Harris of High Cross), the Institute's General Director. Harris introduced Vinson to Sir Keith Joseph, who had shifted from his party's commitment to the neo-Keynesian middle way in favour of market-based policies.

In 1974, Vinson joined Joseph and Margaret Thatcher as a co-founder of the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS). He secured and underwrote the lease for its first premises, employed its staff, served as honorary treasurer, and co-authored its first publication, Why Britain Needs a Social Market Economy (1974).

According to his biographer, he was involved in discussions that influenced Joseph’s decision not to run for Conservative Party leadership in 1975, which preceded Margaret Thatcher’s candidacy.

According to a study on conservative and neoliberal think tanks, the CPS's Personal Capital Foundation Group—chaired by Vinson—was among the most influential. It proposed three policies later adopted by the government: personal pensions, personal equity plans (now ISAs), and the Enterprise Allowance Scheme.Richard Cockett, Thinking the Unthinkable: Think Tanks and the Economic Counter-Revolution, Harper Collins, London 1994 Though he supported the IEA and CPS's pro-market stance, Vinson argued that the high interest rates imposed by Thatcher's counter-inflation policy were harsh and unnecessary and caused severe hardship.James, Simon. British Government: A Reader in Policy Making. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2002. P91 When an independent review of UK monetary policy confirmed this, monetary policy was gradually relaxed.John Hoskyns, Just in Time: Inside the Thatcher Revolution, Aurum Press, London 2000

Other On 7 February 1985, he was made a life peer as Baron Vinson, of Roddam Dene in the County of Northumberland.

Vinson regularly spoke in House of Lords debates. During the 2007 and 2014 sessions, he expressed support for nuclear power, and against policies based on British renewable generation solutions, which he claimed increased fuel poverty, while the growing world population issue remained unaddressed.

On 4 August 2012, Lord Vinson threatened to defect to UKIP unless the Conservatives took more of a Better Off Out approach to Europe. On 4 June 2013, he spoke and voted in the Lords against the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill.

From 1980 to 1990, Vinson served as chairman of the Rural Development Commission, during which time he initiated reforms to remove restrictions on rural enterprise, including changes to planning laws that allowed redundant farm buildings to be converted into workshops, which facilitated the establishment of small rural firms.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 6- Building a rural life-support machine, p. 29

Vinson was Deputy Chairman of the Confederation of British Industry's Smaller Firms Council from 1979 to 1984 and President of the Industrial Participation Association from 1979 to 1989.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Chapter 4- Emancipating the Workers, p. 77

From 2003 until 2021, he was a trustee of the British think tank Civitas.https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/3980007/ He retired from the House of Lords in July 2022.

Controversy Vinson has been associated with several controversies, primarily relating to his funding of organisations linked to climate change denial. Through the Nigel Vinson Charitable Trust, he donated funds to the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), which questions mainstream climate science, and the Renewable Energy Foundation, an anti-wind energy group.

Beyond climate policy, Vinson’s role as patron of The Freedom Association has attracted scrutiny due to the group’s controversial history. In the 1980s, the Association, through leading member Norris McWhirter, campaigned against sanctions on apartheid-era South Africa and opposed the BBC’s broadcast of a Nelson Mandela tribute, describing it as “anti-apartheid propaganda.”

Philanthropy The Nigel Vinson Charitable Trust, established in 1970 with an initial donation of £100,000. representing ten percent of Vinson's then wealth, has since donated more than £10 million to educational, humanitarian, and environmental projects, as well as to individual scholars and public policy foundations. Beneficiaries have included the University of Buckingham, which unveiled the Vinson Building housing the Vinson Centre for Economics and Entrepreneurship in 2018. The Trust was wound up in July 2023,https://www.ukgrantmaking.org/latest/trusts-and-foundations/#New-and-closing-foundations with remaining funds of over £4m transferred to the Institute of Economic Affairs.

In 2019, in an article written by Vinson in Standpoint magazine, he criticized several major UK charities for misusing donor funds, overpaying senior staff, and engaging in political activism.

Personal life

In 1972, Vinson married speech therapist Yvonne Ann, daughter of Dr John Olaf Collin (d. 2000), MB BCh,People of Today, ed. Lucy Hume, Debrett's Ltd, 2017, p. 1278 of Forest Row, East Sussex.Making Things Happen: The Life and Original Thinking of Nigel Vinson, Gerald Frost, Biteback Publishing, 2015, Appendix- Timeline of Lord Vinson of Roddam Dene They have three daughters.Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, ed. Susan Morris, Debrett's Ltd, 2019, p. 1440

Vinson was invested as a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in the 1979 New Year Honours.

Positions

Non political Vinson has held several positions outside the public sector:

1999-2001 – North East Civic Trust, Chairman 1990-1998 – Electra Investment Trust, Deputy Chairman 1987-1995 – Institute of Economic Affairs, Chairman 1985-1992 – Mercury Asset Management, Director 1979-1985 – Barclays Bank, Director 1973-1980 – British Airports Authority, Director 1971-2001 – Fleming Income and Growth, Chairman

Political

2005-2008 – Berwick-upon-Tweed Conservative Association, Chairman 2000-2005 – Berwick-upon-Tweed Conservative Association, President 1980-1990 – Rural Development Commission, Chairman 1974-1980 – Centre for Policy Studies, Founder & Director

Public

2013–Present – The Freedom Association, Patron 2009–Present – Chillingham Wild Cattle Association 2004–2021 – Civitas, Trustee 1995-2000 – Prince's Youth Business Trust (North East), Chairman 1995-1998 – North East Prince's Trust, Chairman 1995–Present – Institute of Economic Affairs, Vice-President 1989-2000 – St Cuthbert's Newcastle Estates, Chairman 1986–Present – Bamburgh Castle Trustees, Chairman 1985-1988 – Newcastle Technology Centre, Founder and Chairman 1983–Present – National Trust Cragside Appeal, Chairman 1980-1986 – Council of Small Industries in Rural Areas, Chairman 1979-1989 – Industrial Participation Association, President 1979-1984 – CBI Smaller Firms Council, Deputy Chairman 1975-1978 – Queen's Silver Jubilee Appeal, Honorary Director 1972-2004 – Institute of Economic Affairs, Chairman and Trustee 1972–Present – Nigel Vinson Charitable Trust, Chairman and Trustee 1972-1974 – Crafts Council, Chairman 1971-1978 – Industrial Participation Association, Chairman 1971 – Queen's Award for Industry, Honorary Director

Arms

Notes

References

External links