Hugh Gaitskell | |
|---|---|
 Gaitskell in 1961 | |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 14 December 1955 – 18 January 1963 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Herbert Morrison |
| Succeeded by | George Brown |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
| In office 14 December 1955 – 18 January 1963 | |
| Deputy |
|
| Preceded by | Clement Attlee |
| Succeeded by | Harold Wilson |
| Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
| In office 26 October 1951 – 14 December 1955 | |
| Leader | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Rab Butler |
| Succeeded by | Harold Wilson |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
| In office 19 October 1950 – 26 October 1951 | |
| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Stafford Cripps |
| Succeeded by | Rab Butler |
| Minister of Fuel and Power | |
| In office 24 October 1947 – 15 February 1950 | |
| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Manny Shinwell |
| Succeeded by | Philip Noel-Baker |
| Member of Parliament for Leeds South | |
| In office 5 July 1945 – 18 January 1963 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Charleton |
| Succeeded by | Merlyn Rees |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell 9 April 1906 London, England |
| Died | 18 January 1963 (aged 56) London, England |
| Resting place | St John-at-Hampstead, London |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE (9 April 1906 – 18 January 1963) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until his death in 1963. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant, he was elected to Parliament in 1945 and held office in Clement Attlee's governments, notably as Minister of Fuel and Power following the bitter winter of 1946–47, and eventually joining the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Facing the need to increase military spending in 1951, he imposed National Health Service charges on dentures and spectacles, prompting the leading left-winger Aneurin Bevan to resign from the Cabinet.
The perceived similarity in his outlook to that of his Conservative Party counterpart Rab Butler was dubbed "Butskellism", initially a satirical term blending their names, and was one aspect of the post-war consensus through which the major parties largely agreed on the main points of domestic and foreign policy until the 1970s.[1][2] With Labour in opposition from 1951, Gaitskell won bitter leadership battles with Bevan and his supporters to become the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in 1955. In 1956 he opposed the Eden government's use of military force at Suez. Against a backdrop of a booming economy he led Labour to its third successive defeat at the 1959 general election.
In the late 1950s, in the teeth of opposition from the major trade unions, he attempted in vain to remove Clause IV of the Labour Party Constitution, which committed Labour to nationalisation of all the means of production. He did not reject public ownership altogether, but also emphasised the ethical goals of liberty, social welfare and above all equality, and argued that they could be achieved by fiscal and social policies within a mixed economy. His revisionist views, on the right wing of the Labour Party, were sometimes called Gaitskellism.
Despite this setback, Gaitskell reversed an attempt to adopt unilateral nuclear disarmament as Labour Party policy, and opposed Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's attempt to lead the UK into the European Common Market. He died suddenly in 1963, when he appeared to be on the verge of leading Labour back into power and becoming the next prime minister.