butskellism means A centrist economic policy obtaining in post-war Britain, upheld by both Conservative and Labour Chancellors. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 84 out of 100.
Why this word is great
BUTSKELLISM — [Noun] The centrist economic consensus in post-war Britain, characterized by bipartisan agreement on a mixed economy and the welfare state. Its etymology is a blend of the surnames Butler (Rab Butler, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Gaitskell (Hugh Gaitskell, Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer) + the suffix -ism, denoting a distinctive practice or system. Unlike Thatcherism, which denotes a decisive ideological rupture, or partisanship, which thrives on adversarial distinction, Butskellism is the quiet hum of administrative accord. It is the tactile weight of a buff-coloured Treasury file, the steady warmth of a coal fire in a civil service office, and the shared conviction that the state should own the railways—a pragmatic, weary armistice in the long war of ideology, born not of fervor but of shared stewardship.
noun
- A centrist economic policy obtaining in post-war Britain, upheld by both Conservative and Labour Chancellors.“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.”