World

Her praise was terminally faint. During a question period in Parliament last week, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher expressed confidence in Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson, who was feuding with her chief economic adviser, Sir Alan Walters. But her endorsement was embarrassingly tepid. Lawson, 57, promptly resigned. His successor: Foreign Minister John Major, 46, who headed the Foreign Office for less than four months but served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury for two years. Rumor has it that he is Thatcher's new favorite to be her successor. Major's replacement: Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, 59, who presumably brings to his new job a mastery of foreign intrigue. In his spare time Hurd has written nine mystery thrillers since 1967.