Editing Alan Walters (section)

== Political career ==
In 1981, he was asked to become an economic adviser to Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] (who was elected in the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]]), and advised on that year's [[budget]], in which taxes were increased during a recession. This policy produced much criticism and was associated with rioting and high unemployment,<ref name=pandora>[[Pandora's Box (British TV series)|Pandora's Box]]: The League of Gentlemen – Adam Curtis</ref> but it has been claimed that it enabled the sustained economic growth of the 1990s.<ref name = Times>{{cite news | work = [[The Times]] | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5451311.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601050145/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5451311.ece | title = Sir Alan Walters, Thatcher's economic guru, dies aged 82 | date = 5 January 2009 | archive-date = 1 June 2010 | location=London | first=Philippe | last=Naughton}}</ref> He left this role in 1983 to join the [[American Enterprise Institute]] and at least some aspects of monetarist policies were publicly repudiated by Thatcher in 1985.<ref name=pandora/> He did, however, return to advise Thatcher in 1989, but his differences with the policies of the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Nigel Lawson]], led to the resignation of both men on 26 October 1989.<ref>{{cite web |title=Obituary - Sir Alan Walters |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jan/06/sir-alan-walters-obituary |work=The Guardian|date=6 January 2009|access-date=25 April 2020}}</ref>

Walters supported the controversial and ill-fated [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|Community Charge]] (referred to as the "poll tax").  He opposed the similarly ill-fated policy of entry into the [[European Monetary System#1992 crisis|European Monetary System]]. In 1997, he stood as the [[Referendum Party]] candidate for the safe Conservative seat of the [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1990s|Cities of London and Westminster]] achieving 3% of the vote.