- Butskellism
'Butskellism' is the (moderately
satirical ) term used in British politics to refer to the political consensus formed in the 1950s and associated with the exercise of office asChancellor of the Exchequer byRab Butler of the Conservative Party andHugh Gaitskell of the Labour Party. The term was inspired by a leading article in "The Economist " which dramatised the claimed convergence by referring to a fictitious Mr Butskell. ["The Economist", February 1954]World War II left theUnited Kingdom with an appetite for a broader distribution ofwealth and a strengthening ofsocial security , while a natural conservatism held fast to a belief in individual initiative and private property. [Kynaston (2007) "pp"467-469] The practical resolution of this tension in politics by the two Chancellors was a Keynesianmixed economy with moderate state intervention to promote social goals, particularly ineducation andhealth .Fact|date=July 2008The consensus dominated British politics until 1979 when the Conservative administration of
Margaret Thatcher radically challenged accepted wisdom and institutionalised a greater emphasis on afree market approach to government.Fact|date=July 2008However, the idea of Butskellism has been challenged as a myth, with claims that there was in fact a sustained argument over the use of physical controls,
monetary policy anddirect taxation . [Kelly (2002)]A similar term '
Blatcherism ' was coined to describe the supposed convergence of policies of the administrations ofMargaret Thatcher andTony Blair .Fact|date=July 2008References
Bibliography
* cite book | title=The Myth of Mr.Butskell: The Politics of British Economic Policy, 1950-55 | author=Kelly, S. | publisher=Ashgate | year=2002 | id=ISBN 075460604X | location=London
* cite book | author=Kynaston, D | year=2007 | title=Austerity Britain: 1945-1951 | location=London | publisher=Bloomsbury | id=ISBN 0-7475-7985-4
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