Meanings
- UKhistoricaluncountablegovernmentA centrist economic policy obtaining in post-war Britain, upheld by both Conservative and Labour Chancellors.
Camerairism reflects a structural change more profound than Butskellism ever did.
2005 October 20, Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian2 more examples
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.
1954 February 13, The EconomistAnd 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.
1994, Christopher Hitchens, ‘On Spanking’, London Review of Books, volume 16, number 20
Origin
Blend of Butler + Gaitskell + -ism, after Rab Butler, the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer 1951–55, and his Labour predecessor Hugh Gaitskell 1950–51.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Butskellism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Butskellism
“Butskellism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Butskellism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Butskellism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Butskellism.
Source: Butskellism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.