On 28 July 1992, Ridley was created a life peer as Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, of Willimoteswick in the County of Northumberland. Despite being a free-marketeer, in January 1993 Ridley spoke out against railway privatisation, and when in government, advised Thatcher against doing so. The final speech he gave was an address against the Maastricht Treaty on 17 February 1993 in the House of Lords, which he had always vehemently opposed and voted against in 1991. In an article for "The Times" written days before he died, he suggested that the rich should be taxed more to help Britain out of the recession.