Butskellism

Butskellism

English

Etymology

Blend of Butler +‎ Gaitskell +‎ -ism, after Rab Butler, the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer 1951–55, and his Labour predecessor Hugh Gaitskell 1950–51.

Noun

Butskellism (uncountable)

1. (UK politics, now historical) A centrist economic policy obtaining in post-war Britain, upheld by both Conservative and Labour Chancellors.
   • 1954, The Economist, 13 February:

     The next few weeks will show whether the Opposition will seize this chance of golden silence; or whether, in a Brown fury, it is going to throw the opportunity for constructive Butskellism away.

   • 1994, Christopher Hitchens, ‘On Spanking’, London Review of Books, vol. 16, no. 20:

     And then there was a sort of sensation at the door and in came Margaret Thatcher. Rab’s shell crackled and contracted a little, as he tried to look flattered by the attention of his new leader: she whose whole purpose it was to cram Butskellism as harshly as possible into the WPB of history.

   • 2005, Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian, 20 October:

     Camerairism reflects a structural change more profound than Butskellism ever did.