With great sadness we have learnt that our good friend and colleague David Metcalf has passed away. Together with Richard Layard and Stephen Nickell, David set up the Centre for Labour Economics, which became the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) in 1990 where he was the long-standing deputy director and later led CEP’s Labour Markets programme. David was a longtime member of the LSE’s economics department, joining in the 1960s, before moving to helping establish the economics department at Kent and then returning to LSE to become Professor of Industrial Relations. David worked extensively on the economic impact of unions and on pay systems and structures, writing over 100 publications on labour economics and industrial relations, many with current and past members of the Centre. 

Knighted in 2013, David was dedicated to public service, alongside his academic work. In the mid-1970s he was Special Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Security, at a time of IMF crisis and incomes policy. He also played a role in introducing child benefit and the earnings-related pension scheme. He was a founding member of the Low Pay Commission, serving for 10 years from 1997 to 2007 advising the government on National Minimum Wage rates. David was the first Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2016. He was also the first Director of Labour Market Enforcement, appointed by the Home Office and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, from 2017 to 2019. 

David was a wonderful colleague and constantly enriched life at CEP. His passion for sports saw him playing CEP 5-a-side football into his sixties, as an MCC member he enjoyed the cricket at Lords, he was a Tottenham Hotspur season ticket holder, and he owned a share of a national hunt horse and also chaired the Starting Price Regulatory Commission. We will miss him very much.

We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

The funeral will be on Thursday 26th February at 1pm in London, followed by a wake. Please contact Harriet Ogborn (h.ogborn@lse.ac.uk) for further details.

Visit the LSE condolences page.

David Metcalf: 15 May 1942 - 5 Feb 2026