The Myth of Mr. Butskell: The Politics of British Economic Policy, 1950-55

by Scott Kelly

It is often assumed that a general consensus existed between the post-war Labour and Conservative governments in matters of economic policy. Indeed, by 1954, The Economist was able to satirize the situation with the invention of Mr Butskell, a fictitious political figure created by an amalgamation of the names of Hugh Gaitskell and R.A. Butler. For decades afterwards the character of Mr Butskell came to personify the idea of a consensus over economic policy that was only broken with the election of the Thatcher government in 1979.

248 pages, Hardcover

First published January 14, 2014

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