Meet Ms Heeves, the face of Britain’s new political consensus
How Labour and the Conservatives ended up agreeing on almost everything
In 1954 The Economist introduced readers to Mr Butskell. This portmanteau of the Conservative chancellor, Rab Butler, and his Labour predecessor, Hugh Gaitskell, was a personification of the post-war economic consensus that shaped Britain from the 1940s to the 1970s. Each party accepted the broad parameters of a generous welfare state, Keynesianism and full employment, until Margaret Thatcher emerged.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “From Mr Butskell to Ms Heeves”
Britain
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- Meet Ms Heeves, the face of Britain’s new political consensus
From the February 4th 2023 edition
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