The Right Honourable The Lord Butler of Saffron Walden KG CH PC DL |
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Father of the House | |
In office 16 October 1964 – 19 February 1965 |
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Preceded by | Winston Churchill |
Succeeded by | Robin Turton |
Shadow Foreign Secretary | |
In office 16 October 1964 – 27 July 1965 |
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Leader | Alec Douglas-Home |
Preceded by | Patrick Gordon-Walker |
Succeeded by | Reginald Maudling |
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964 |
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Prime Minister | Alec Douglas-Home |
Preceded by | Alec Douglas-Home |
Succeeded by | Patrick Gordon-Walker |
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
In office 13 July 1962 – 18 October 1963 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Anthony Eden |
Succeeded by | William Whitelaw |
First Secretary of State | |
In office 13 July 1962 – 18 October 1963 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | George Brown |
Chair of the Conservative Party | |
In office 14 October 1959 – 9 October 1961 |
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Leader | Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | The Viscount Hailsham |
Succeeded by | Iain Macleod |
Home Secretary | |
In office 14 January 1957 – 13 July 1962 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Gwilym Lloyd-George |
Succeeded by | Henry Brooke |
Leader of the House of Commons | |
In office 20 December 1955 – 9 October 1961 |
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Prime Minister |
Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Harry Crookshank |
Succeeded by | Iain Macleod |
Lord Privy Seal | |
In office 20 December 1955 – 14 October 1959 |
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Prime Minister |
Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Harry Crookshank |
Succeeded by | The Viscount Hailsham |
Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
In office 28 October 1951 – 20 December 1955 |
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Prime Minister |
Winston Churchill Anthony Eden |
Preceded by | Hugh Gaitskell |
Succeeded by | Harold Macmillan |
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
In office 10 December 1950 – 28 October 1951 |
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Leader | Winston Churchill |
Preceded by | Oliver Stanley |
Succeeded by | Hugh Gaitskell |
Minister of Labour and National Service | |
In office 25 May 1945 – 26 July 1945 |
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Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
Preceded by | Ernest Bevin |
Succeeded by | George Isaacs |
Minister of Education President of the Board of Education (1941–44) |
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In office 20 July 1941 – 25 May 1945 |
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Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
Preceded by | Herwald Ramsbotham |
Succeeded by | Richard Law |
Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 25 February 1938 – 20 July 1941 Served with The Earl of Plymouth (1938–40) |
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Prime Minister |
Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill |
Preceded by | The Viscount Cranborne |
Succeeded by | Richard Law |
Member of Parliament for Saffron Walden |
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In office 30 May 1929 – 19 February 1965 |
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Preceded by | William Mitchell |
Succeeded by | Peter Kirk |
Personal details | |
Born |
Richard Austen Butler 9 December 1902 , British Raj (now Attock, Pakistan) |
Died | 8 March 1982 Great Yeldham, England, UK |
(aged 79)
Political party | Conservative |
Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
a. ^ Office vacant from 6 April 1955 to 13 July 1962. b. ^ Office vacant from 18 October 1963 to 4 May 1979. c. ^ Office vacant from 18 October 1963 to 16 October 1964. |
Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden KG CH PC DL (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), generally known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative politician. The Times obituary called him "the creator of the modern educational system, the key-figure in the revival of post-war Conservatism, arguably the most successful chancellor since the war and unquestionably a Home Secretary of reforming zeal." He was one of his party's leaders in promoting the Post-war consensus through which the major parties largely agreed on the main points of domestic policy until the 1970s, sometimes known as "Butskellism" from an elision of his name with that of his Labour counterpart Hugh Gaitskell.
Born into a family of academics and Indian administrators, Butler enjoyed a brilliant academic career before entering Parliament in 1929. As a junior minister, he helped to pass the Government of India Act 1935. He strongly supported the appeasement of Nazi Germany in 1938–39. Entering the Cabinet in 1941, he served as Education Minister (1941–45, overseeing the Education Act 1944). When the Conservatives returned to power in 1951 he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1951–55), Home Secretary (1957–62), Deputy Prime Minister (1962–63) and Foreign Secretary (1963–64).