View source for Rab Butler

{{Short description|British politician (1902–1982)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Butler of Saffron&nbsp;Walden
| honorific_suffix    = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|CH|PC|DL}}
| image               = Rab Butler in 1963 (3x4 cropped).jpg
| caption             = Butler in 1963
| office1             = [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United&nbsp;Kingdom]]
| primeminister1      = [[Harold Macmillan]]
| term_start1         = 13 July 1962
| term_end1           = 18 October 1963
| predecessor1        = [[Anthony Eden]] (''de facto'')
| successor1          = [[William Whitelaw]] (''de facto'')
| office2             = [[First Secretary of State]]
| primeminister2      = [[Harold Macmillan]]
| term_start2         = 13 July 1962
| term_end2           = 18 October 1963
| predecessor2        = ''Office established''
| successor2          = [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]] (1964)
{{collapsed infobox section begin |cont=yes |Ministerial offices {{nobold|1951–{{wj}}1964}}
 |titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
 |office3          = [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]]
 |primeminister3   = [[Alec Douglas-Home]]
 |term_start3      = 20 October 1963
 |term_end3        = 16 October 1964
 |predecessor3     = [[Alec Douglas-Home]]
 |successor3       = [[Patrick Gordon-Walker]]
 |office4          = [[Home Secretary]]
 |primeminister4   = [[Harold Macmillan]]
 |term_start4      = 14 January 1957
 |term_end4        = 13 July 1962
 |predecessor4     = [[Gwilym Lloyd George]]
 |successor4       = [[Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor|Henry Brooke]]
 |office5          = [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]]
 |leader5          = [[Harold Macmillan]]
 |term_start5      = 14 October 1959
 |term_end5        = 9 October 1961
 |predecessor5     = [[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|The Viscount Hailsham]]
 |successor5       = [[Iain Macleod]]
 |office6          = [[Leader of the House of Commons]]
 |primeminister6   = {{ubl|[[Anthony Eden]]|[[Harold Macmillan]]}}
 |term_start6      = 20 December 1955
 |term_end6        = 9 October 1961
 |predecessor6     = [[Harry Crookshank]]
 |successor6       = [[Iain Macleod]]
 |office7          = [[Lord Privy Seal]]
 |primeminister7   = {{ubl|[[Anthony Eden]]|[[Harold Macmillan]]}}
 |term_start7      = 20 December 1955
 |term_end7        = 14 October 1959
 |predecessor7     = [[Harry Crookshank]]
 |successor7       = [[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|The Viscount Hailsham]]
 |office8          = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
 |primeminister8   = {{ubl|[[Winston Churchill]]|[[Anthony Eden]]}}
 |term_start8      = 28 October 1951
 |term_end8        = 20 December 1955
 |predecessor8     = [[Hugh Gaitskell]]
 |successor8       = [[Harold Macmillan]]{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
 }}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |cont=yes |Ministerial offices {{nobold|1941–{{wj}}1945}}
 |titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
 |office9          = [[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour and National Service]]
 |primeminister9   = [[Winston Churchill]]
 |term_start9      = 25 May 1945
 |term_end9        = 26 July 1945
 |predecessor9     = [[Ernest Bevin]]
 |successor9       = [[George Isaacs]]
 |office10         = [[Secretary of State for Education|Minister of Education]]<br />{{nobold|([[President of the Board of Education|President of the Board]], 1941–1944)}}
 |primeminister10  = [[Winston Churchill]]
 |term_start10     = 20 July 1941
 |term_end10       = 25 May 1945
 |predecessor10    = [[Herwald Ramsbotham]]
 |successor10      = [[Richard Law, 1st Baron Coleraine|Richard Law]]{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
 }}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |cont=yes |[[Shadow cabinet|Shadow]] offices
 |titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
 |office11         = [[Shadow Foreign Secretary]]
 |leader11         = [[Alec Douglas-Home]]
 |1blankname11     = Shadowing
 |1namedata11      = {{ubl|[[Patrick Gordon Walker]]|[[Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham|Michael Stewart]]}}
 |term_start11     = 16 October 1964
 |term_end11       = 27 July 1965
 |predecessor11    = [[Patrick Gordon-Walker]]
 |successor11      = [[Reginald Maudling]]
 |office12         = [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
 |leader12         = [[Winston Churchill]]
 |1blankname12     = Shadowing
 |1namedata12      = [[Hugh Gaitskell]]
 |term_start12     = 10 December 1950
 |term_end12       = 28 October 1951
 |predecessor12    = [[Oliver Stanley]]
 |successor12      = [[Hugh Gaitskell]]{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
 }}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |cont=yes |last=yes |Parliamentary offices
 |titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
 |office13         = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Saffron Walden (UK Parliament constituency)|Saffron Walden]]
 |term_start13     = 30 May 1929
 |term_end13       = 19 February 1965
 |predecessor13    = [[William Foot Mitchell|William Mitchell]]
 |successor13      = [[Peter Kirk (English politician)|Peter Kirk]]
 |office14         = Member of the [[House of Lords]]
 |status14         = [[Lord Temporal]]
 |term_label14     = [[Life peer]]age
 |term_start14     = 19 February 1965
 |term_end14       = 8 March 1982{{collapsed infobox section end}}
 }}
| birth_name          = Richard Austen Butler
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1902|12|9|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Attock Fort|Attock Serai]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br />&nbsp;(now {{link if exists|Attock, Pakistan}})
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1982|3|8|1902|12|9|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Great Yeldham]], [[Essex]], England
| resting_place       = [[St Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden]]
| nationality         = British
| party               = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist}}
* {{marriage|Sydney Elizabeth Courtauld|20 April 1926|1954|end=d}}
* {{marriage|Mollie Courtauld<br />|21 October 1959}}
{{endplainlist}}
| children            = 4, including [[Adam Butler (politician)|Adam]] (by Sydney Courtauld)
| parents             = [[Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler]] (father)
| module              = {{infobox scholar|child=yes
|main_interests= {{hlist|[[Languages]]|[[History]]|[[International law]]}}
| alma_mater          = [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]
|workplaces = {{hlist|[[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]|[[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]}}
}}
| termlabel1          = ''[[De facto]]''
}}
'''Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden''' (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as '''R.&nbsp;A. Butler''' and familiarly known from his initials as '''Rab''', was a prominent British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician; he was effectively deputy prime minister to [[Anthony Eden]] and [[Harold Macmillan]], although he only held the official title for a brief period in 1962–63. 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; it is sometimes known as "[[Butskellism]]" from a fusion of his name with that of his Labour counterpart, [[Hugh Gaitskell]].

Born into a family of academics and Indian administrators, Butler had a distinguished academic career before he entered Parliament in [[1929 United Kingdom general election|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 to 1939.

Entering the Cabinet in 1941, he served as [[Secretary of State for Education|President of the Board of Education]] (1941–1945) and oversaw the [[Education Act 1944]]. When the Conservatives returned to power in 1951, he served as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] (1951–1955), [[Home Secretary]] (1957–1962), [[First Secretary of State]] (1962–1963) and [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Foreign Secretary]] (1963–1964). Butler had an exceptionally long ministerial career and was one of only two British politicians (the other being [[John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon]]) to have served in three of the four [[Great Offices of State]], but not to have been [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]] for which he was passed over in 1957 and 1963. At the time, the Conservative leadership was decided by a process of private consultation, rather than by a formal vote.

After retiring from politics in 1965, Butler was appointed [[List of masters of Trinity College, Cambridge|Master of Trinity College, Cambridge]] and served until 1978. He died of colon cancer in 1982.

==Family background==
Butler's paternal family had a long and distinguished association with the [[University of Cambridge]], dating back to his great-grandfather [[George Butler (headmaster)|George Butler]]. His great-uncle [[Henry Montagu Butler]] was Master of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], and [[Dean of Gloucester]], and his uncle Sir [[Geoffrey G. Butler]], a Cambridge historian and Conservative [[Cambridge University (UK parliament constituency)|MP for the university]].{{Sfn|Howard|1987|p=1}} His father was a [[Fellow]] and later [[Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge]].{{Sfn|Howard|1987|p=3}}

Butler's maternal grandfather, [[George Smith (1833–1919)|George Smith]], was Principal of [[Doveton Corrie Protestant Schools Association|Doveton Boys College]], [[Calcutta]].{{Sfn|Howard|1987|p=132}}

==Early life and education==
{{Main|Early life and career of Rab Butler (1902–1929)}}
[[File:Graduation Day, Pembroke College, Cambridge.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|left|[[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]]]
Richard Austen Butler was born 9 December 1902 in [[Attock]], [[British Raj|British India]], the eldest son of [[Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler]], a member of the [[Indian Civil Service]], and Anne Smith. He had two sisters, [[Iris Mary Butler|Iris]] (1905–2002), who married Lieutenant-Colonel Gervase Portal (1890–1961) and became a writer, and [[Dorothy Middleton|Dorothy]] (1909–1999), the wife of Laurence Middleton (1905–1982). His younger brother John (1914–1943) was killed in an air crash on active service in January 1943.{{Sfn|Howard|1987|p=132}}
In July 1909, at the age of six, Butler's right arm was broken in three places in a riding accident, which left his right hand permanently disabled.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=199}}{{Efn|Some biographers have suggested "any form of military service (was) out of the question",{{Sfn|Howard|1987|p=7}} but Butler joined the [[Officers' Training Corps]] and was a competent recreational [[shooting sport|shot]]{{sfn|Jago|2015|p=10}}}} He attended a [[preparatory school (United Kingdom)|preparatory school]] in [[Hove]] but rebelled against going to [[Harrow School]], where most of his family were educated. Having failed to win a scholarship to [[Eton College]], he instead attended [[Marlborough College]], leaving in December 1920.

In June 1921, Butler won an [[exhibition (scholarship)|exhibition]] to [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]. At that stage, he planned a career in the Diplomatic Service.{{Sfn|Howard|1987|p=14}} He entered Pembroke College in October of that year and became President of the [[Cambridge Union Society]] for Easter (summer) term of 1924. Initially studying French and German, he graduated in 1925 with one of the highest first-class degrees in history in the university. He was elected a fellow of [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]], and gave lectures on the politics of the [[French Third Republic]].{{Sfn|Howard|1987|p=31}} At Cambridge, he met Sydney Courtauld; after they married in 1926, his father-in-law awarded him an income of £5,000 a year after tax for life, which was comparable to a Cabinet Minister's salary and gave him the financial freedom to pursue a political career.{{Sfn|Howard|1987|pp=30–31}}

==Early political career==
{{Main| Political career of Rab Butler (1929–1941)}}
[[File:Richard-Austen-Rab-Butler-1st-Baron-Butler-of-Saffron-Walden.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Butler in 1934]]
With the help of his Courtauld family connections, Butler was selected unopposed as the Conservative candidate for [[Saffron Walden (UK Parliament constituency)|Saffron Walden]] on 26 November 1927.{{Sfn|Jago|2015| p=53}} He was elected in the [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929 general election]], and retained the seat until his retirement in 1965.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}}

Even before being elected to Parliament, Butler had been private secretary to [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Samuel Hoare]]. When the [[National Government (United Kingdom)|National Government]] was formed in August 1931 Hoare was appointed [[Secretary of State for India]], and Butler was appointed as Hoare's [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] (PPS).{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}} In January 1932, he visited India as part of [[Lord Lothian]]'s Franchise Committee, which was set up by the [[Round Table Conference]] and which recommended a large increase in the Indian electorate.{{Sfn|Howard|1987|pp=52–53}}

On 29 September 1932, Butler became [[Under-Secretary of State for India]] after the resignation of Lord Lothian and other [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]] over [[British Empire Economic Conference|abandonment of free trade]] by the National Government.{{Sfn|Howard|1987|pp=55–56}} At 29, he was the youngest member of the government and was responsible for piloting the [[Government of India Act 1935]] through Parliament in the face of massive opposition from [[Winston Churchill]] and the Conservative right.{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=79}} He retained this position in [[Stanley Baldwin]]'s third government (1935–1937), and when [[Neville Chamberlain]] replaced Baldwin as prime minister in May 1937, Butler was appointed [[Parliamentary Secretary]] at the [[Ministry of Labour (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Labour]].{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}}

==Foreign Office: 1938 to 1941==
In the reshuffle caused by the resignation of [[Anthony Eden]] as [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Foreign Secretary]] and [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Cranborne]] as [[Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]] in February 1938, they were replaced by [[Lord Halifax]] and Butler, who became the main Foreign Office spokesman in the Commons.{{Sfn|Howard|1987|p=74}}

In internal discussions after Germany's [[annexation of Austria]] on 12 March 1938, Butler counselled against giving Czechoslovakia a guarantee of British support and approved the Cabinet decision on 22 March not to do so, facts that he later omitted from his memoirs.{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|p=909}} During the [[Sudeten Crisis]], he was attending a League of Nations meeting in Geneva but strongly supported Chamberlain's trip to [[Berchtesgaden#Nazi era|Berchtesgaden]] on 16 September, even if it meant sacrificing Czechoslovakia in the interests of peace.{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|pp=910–911}} Butler returned to Britain to make the winding-up speech for the Government in the Parliamentary Debate on the [[Munich Agreement]] on 5 October.{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=75}} After Churchill had spoken, Butler said that war solved nothing and that it was better to "settle our differences with Germany by consultation".{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}} However, he did not directly defend the Munich settlement; the motion was to support the avoidance of war and the pursuit of lasting peace.{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=101}}<ref>Howard, p. 77.</ref>

Butler became a [[Privy Counsellor]] in the [[1939 New Year Honours]] list,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34585 |date=30 December 1938 |page=1 |supp=y}}</ref> the youngest person so appointed since Churchill in 1907.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 81.</ref>

===After Prague===
After the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia]] on 15 March 1939, Butler, like Chamberlain, was shocked at Hitler's duplicity in breaking the Munich Agreement.{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=97}} The evidence suggests Butler did not support Halifax's new policy of attempting to deter further German aggression by pledging to go to war to defend Poland and other Eastern European countries.{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|pp=912–913}}

Butler became a member of the foreign policy committee, which agreed to seek an Anglo-Soviet alliance in May 1939, contrary to Chamberlain's and Butler's wishes, but Butler and [[Horace Wilson (civil servant)|Horace Wilson]] persuaded Chamberlain to hamstring the search for an agreement by including a requirement that Britain would not fight without League of Nations approval.{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|pp=915–916}} Throughout the summer of 1939 Butler continued to lobby for closer Anglo-German relations and for Britain to lean on Poland to reach agreement with Germany.{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|pp=916–917}}

After the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] was announced on 23 August 1939, Butler vainly advised against honouring Britain's guarantee to defend Poland against Germany but instead favoured Hitler's proposal to allow Germany to settle matters with Poland as it wished and, in return for concessions over her former colonies, to sign an Anglo-German alliance.{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|pp=919–920}} [[Oliver Harvey, 1st Baron Harvey of Tasburgh|Oliver Harvey]] recorded (27 August) that Butler and Horace Wilson were "working like beavers" for "another Munich".{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=75}}

As late as early September 1939, with German invasion of Poland imminent, comments in Channon's diary suggest that Butler was sympathetic to last-minute Italian efforts to broker peace and that he and Butler were heartened by the delay in the British declaration of war on Germany caused by lack of agreement with the French over timing.{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|pp=921–922}}

===Foreign Office Minister: later views and Butler's memoirs===
Butler's close association with [[appeasement]] was often held against him later in his career.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}} Although he later held many senior Cabinet positions, by the time of Suez in 1956, his past, coupled with his lack of personal military experience, damaged his reputation in the eyes of the younger generation of Conservative MPs, many of whom were Second World War veterans.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 251.</ref> At the time, Butler strongly supported reaching agreement with Hitler as necessary for peace, but in his memoirs, ''The Art of the Possible'' (1971), he defended the [[Munich Agreement]] as essential to buy time to rearm and gain public support for war in Britain and the Dominions, and he also claimed that he had little input into foreign policy.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 77-8">Howard 1987, pp. 77–78.</ref>

Later commentators argue that Butler's suggestion in his memoirs that he supported Halifax in leading the drive away from appeasement after Prague is "wholly false". His own papers suggest that he went to "greater lengths to meet Hitler's demands than any other figure in the British government" in 1939. His efforts to revoke the Polish guarantee that summer went beyond even Horace Wilson's, and it seems doubtful whether he was willing to fight Hitler over Poland at all.{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|pp=901, 903–905, 913, 921–922}} [[Patrick Cosgrave]] argues, "Butler did not merely go along with appeasement he waxed hard, long and enthusiastic for it, and there is very little evidence... he took the slightest interest in the rearmament programme to which he devotes such emphasis in his memoirs".{{Sfn|Cosgrave|1981|p=43}} Jago concludes that Butler "distorted the facts" and "grossly misrepresented his responsibility and attitudes in 1938". Although not the direct cause of his defeats [for the party leadership] in 1957 or 1963 "it was... always there, the blemish that he could not quite reason away".{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=107}}

===Phoney War===
On 20 October 1939, after the [[Fall of Poland]], Butler was, according to Soviet Ambassador [[Ivan Maisky]], still open to a compromise peace and agreement to restore Germany's colonies if it was guaranteed by all the powers, including the Americans and the Soviets. He dismissed as an "absurdity" any suggestion for Germany first to be required to withdraw from Poland.<ref name="Jago 2015, p115">Jago 2015, p115</ref> Butler disapproved of Churchill, the new [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] who publicly opposed to any hint of compromise peace.<ref>Addison 1994, p. 82.</ref>

Butler was quicker than many to realise the social change which war would bring. He spoke to [[Robert Barrington-Ward]] of ''[[The Times]]'' (12 February 1940) of "the new social revolution that is making its way, and how to anticipate and meet it".<ref>Addison 1994, p. 72.</ref>

With Chamberlain's position untenable after the [[Norway Debate]], Butler tried on 10 May 1940 to persuade Halifax to accept appointment as prime minister, but he later stated that he was out at the dentist, and Churchill was appointed instead.<ref>Jago 2015, p128</ref> Butler wrote to Chamberlain on 11 May to urge him to carry on as a member of the government in the hope of achieving a negotiated peace and was reappointed to the Foreign Office on 15 May.{{Sfn|Jago|2015|pp=132–133}} Butler later grew to respect Churchill after serving under him.<ref>Jago 2015, p146</ref>

===Under Churchill and Prytz Affair===
On 17 June 1940, the day that Marshal [[Philippe Pétain]] asked for an armistice, Butler met informally with a Swedish [[envoy (title)|envoy]], [[Björn Prytz]].{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}}<ref name="Howard 1987, pp. 96–100">Howard 1987, pp. 96–100.</ref><ref>Jago 2015, p134</ref> Prytz later reported to Stockholm that Butler had declared British policy must be determined by "common sense not bravado" and that had "assured me that no opportunity for reaching a compromise (peace) would be neglected" if there were reasonable conditions.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}}<ref name="Howard 1987, pp. 96–100"/>

Churchill was furious when he found out, probably through intelligence intercepts of Swedish diplomatic cables. He wrote to Halifax on 26 June complaining of Butler's "odd language", which hinted at a lukewarm or even defeatist attitude. Butler, who was lucky not to be sacked, made a four-page handwritten reply the same day that claimed that he had kept to the official British line and had said "nothing definite or specific that I would wish to withdraw", but he offered to resign.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}}<ref name="Howard 1987, pp. 96–100"/>{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=136}} On 28 June, after being shown Churchill's letter, Butler wrote to Halifax and gave an unconvincing explanation, which he later repeated in his memoirs, that by "common sense not bravado", he had been pushing the official line that there could be no peace until Germany had disgorged its conquests. Jago argues that Butler may have been covering for Halifax.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=200}}<ref name="Howard 1987, pp. 96–100"/><ref name="Jago 2015, p138">Jago 2015, p138</ref> Halifax's biographer [[Andrew Roberts, Baron Roberts of Belgravia|Andrew Roberts]] believes that Butler had been putting words into the mouth of Halifax, who had already moved away from his [[May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis|earlier openness to a compromise peace]].<ref name="Roberts 1991, pp. 231–232">Roberts 1991, pp. 231–232.</ref>

Butler kept his position and was allowed to make two broadcasts on the BBC (21 October and 15 December 1940).<ref>Jago 2015, p140</ref> At the reshuffle on Chamberlain's resignation from the government (22 October 1940), Churchill's close supporter [[Brendan Bracken]] offered Butler promotion to the Cabinet-level job of President of the Board of Education, but no offer was forthcoming from Churchill.<ref>Jago 2015, p143</ref>

Butler had little respect for Eden but reluctantly agreed to remain at the Foreign Office when he once again became Foreign Secretary in December 1940.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=201}} In March 1941, with Eden in Cairo, Churchill handled Foreign Office business personally instead of delegating it to Butler.<ref>Jago 2015, p144</ref> By then, Butler's responsibilities had been restricted to "routine drudgery" such as negotiating safe passage for diplomats; repatriation of neutral seamen; and, on one occasion, arranging extra clothing coupons for foreign diplomats so that the [[Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 17th Duke of Alba|Duke of Alba]] could buy more socks.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 108.</ref> Butler and [[Geoffrey Lloyd, Baron Geoffrey-Lloyd|Geoffrey Lloyd]] attempted to register for military service in May 1941, but their application was referred to [[Ernest Bevin]] ([[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour]]), who, in turn, referred it to Churchill. He vetoed it on the grounds that their work as government ministers was more important.<ref>Howard, p. 88.</ref>

==Education minister==
{{Main|Political career of Rab Butler (1941–1951)}}
Butler gained permanent fame for the [[Education Act of 1944]]. Butler's decisive role was to secure passage by negotiations with interested parties from Churchill to the churches and from educators to MPs.{{Sfn|Jeffereys|1984|pp=415–431}}

===Background===
In July 1941, Butler was appointed [[President of the Board of Education]], his first Cabinet post. Some writers, such as Addison, suggest that Education was a backwater and that Churchill offered him it or a diplomatic post to remove him from the more sensitive Foreign Office.<ref>Addison 1994, p. 172.</ref> However, he had been keen to leave the Foreign Office.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 107.</ref> Michael Jago argues that the promotion was not, contrary to Butler's own later insinuations, intended as an insult.<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 109–110.</ref>

Butler proved to be one of the most radical reforming ministers on the home front. The main problem standing in the way of education reform was the question of integrating church schools into the state system, which had bedevilled [[Arthur Balfour|Balfour]]'s [[Education Act 1902|Act in 1902]].<ref>Howard 1987, p. 114.</ref> Churchill did not want a new bill and replied that "we cannot have party politics in wartime".<ref>Addison 1994, p. 173.</ref> Churchill warned him not to "raise the 1902 controversy during the war".<ref>Howard 1987, p. 115.</ref> Butler later wrote that having seen the Promised Land, "I was damned if I was going to die in the Land of Moab. Basing myself on long experience of Churchill over the India Bill, I decided to disregard what he said and go straight ahead".<ref>Butler 1971, p. 95.</ref>

===Negotiation with the churches===
More than half the schools in the country were church schools.<ref>Addison 1994, p. 173. Many of them were small schools, and many were in rural areas.</ref> Many church schools were in a poor state of repair.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 112.</ref> In a meeting on 5 June 1942 with the National Society, the body of Church of England schools, Butler proposed that Church schools could choose either to be [[voluntary aided school|50% aided]] or [[voluntary controlled school|fully funded]] with a [[local education authority]] majority on the school governing body. Archbishop [[William Temple (bishop)|Temple]] agreed to persuade his flock to accept the deal and later obtained the concession that denominational teachers could be allowed in fully-controlled schools if parents so wished.<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 125–126.</ref> In early October 1942, Butler sold his scheme to the Nonconformist leaders of England and Wales.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 127.</ref>

Butler had less success in his dealings with the Roman Catholic Church. He was not able to have talks with the elderly Cardinal [[Arthur Hinsley]] until September 1942. Butler was told that his plans for 50% aided status were not acceptable to the Roman Catholic Church on 15 September 1942. Butler thought it better to present the Catholic Church with a ''fait accompli''.<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 124–126.</ref> Plans for 1943 were scuppered by a letter to ''[[The Times]]'' from Hinsley stressing [[Franklin Roosevelt]]'s commitment to [[Four Freedoms|freedom of conscience]] and arguing that Catholic schools should not be bullied by the state, as they often provided for the poorest inner-city communities.<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 128–129.</ref>

Serious thought was given to integrating public (fee-paying) schools into the state system. Butler was supportive and believed that standards would be raised in state schools if affluent and articulate parents were involved in the system. The Fleming Commission, assembled by Butler, recommended in July 1944 for a quarter of public school places to be given to scholarships. However, nothing came of it, not least as the idea of spending ratepayers' money on a few bright pupils often did not meet with local authority approval.<ref>Addison 1994, p. 239.</ref><ref>Howard 1987, pp. 119–122.</ref>

===1942–1945===
With Churchill's leadership being questioned after recent reverses in the Far East and North Africa, [[Ivor Bulmer-Thomas]] (14 August 1942) commented that some Conservative MPs saw Butler, rather than Eden, as a potential successor. In late November 1942, Butler toyed with the idea of allowing himself to be considered for the job of [[Viceroy of India]] (in succession to [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|Lord Linlithgow]]). Eden had been offered the position by Churchill and was seriously considering accepting it. In the end, [[Field Marshal Wavell]] was appointed.<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 130–131.</ref> Butler helped to write [[King George VI]]'s Christmas broadcast at the end of 1942.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 131.</ref>

Butler lobbied [[John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley|John Anderson]], [[Kingsley Wood]] and Ernest Bevin for an education bill in 1943,<ref>Howard 1987, p. 128.</ref> and by the end of 1942, a draft [[White paper]] was proceeding through the Lord President's Committee.{{Sfn|Jeffereys|1984|p=419}}<ref>Addison 1994, p. 174.</ref> By March 1943, with an Allied victory seeming only a matter of time, Churchill began to support an education bill in 1944 and was aware that he needed to promise postwar improvements and that reforming schools would be cheaper than implementing the [[Beveridge Report]]. When the White Paper was published on 16 July 1943, church-state relations received the least attention.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 133-34.</ref>

The resulting bill became the [[Education Act 1944]] and is often known as the "Butler Act". It brought in free secondary education; until then, many grammar schools charged for entry, albeit with local authority assistance for poorer pupils in recent years. The Act expanded nursery provision and raised the school leaving age to 15, with a commitment to raise it further to 16 (not implemented until 1972).{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=201}}

At the second reading in March 1944, [[Thelma Cazalet-Keir]], part of [[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|Quintin Hogg]]'s Tory Reform Committee, proposed two amendments, one to raise the school leaving age to 16 by 1951 and another demanding equal pay for women teachers. The latter passed by one vote on 28 March 1944. This was the only time the Coalition suffered a significant defeat in a division. Churchill made the amendment a matter of confidence and ensured its defeat on 30 March. This was one of the events which made Churchill and the Conservatives appear reactionary and contributed to their election defeat in 1945. The Butler Act became law in August 1944.<ref name="Addison 1994, pp. 237-9">Addison 1994, pp. 237–239.</ref><ref>Howard 1987, pp. 136–137.</ref>

With party politics restarting, Butler opposed the nationalisation of iron and steel on 9 April 1945.<ref>Addison 1994, p. 256.</ref> After the end of the European War in May, Butler was [[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour]] for two months in the [[Churchill caretaker ministry]]. In the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|Labour landslide of July 1945]] he held Saffron Walden narrowly, his majority falling to 1,158.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=201}} He would probably not have held the seat if the Liberal candidate had not polled over 3,000 votes and split the opposition vote.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 140.</ref>

==In opposition==
After the Conservatives were defeated in the 1945 general election, Butler emerged as the most prominent figure in the rebuilding of the party.<ref>Howard, ''RAB'' pp 140–77.</ref> He became Chairman of the [[Conservative Research Department]], assisted by David Clarke and [[Michael Fraser, Baron Fraser of Kilmorack|Michael Fraser]]. In 1946, he became chairman of the Industrial Policy Committee. In 1947, the [[Industrial Charter]] was produced, which advocated full employment and acceptance of the welfare state.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=201}}

==Chancellor of the Exchequer==
When the Conservative Party returned to power in [[1951 United Kingdom general election|1951]], Butler was appointed [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] in the absence of other candidates, [[Oliver Lyttleton]] being seen as too close to the [[City of London]].<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 178–179.</ref> He inherited a balance of payments crisis that was partially caused by the increase in defence spending as a result of the [[Korean War]].<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 257.</ref> Butler initially planned to let the pound float (which would in practice devalue it) and become partially convertible ("[[Operation ROBOT]]"). The latter was struck down by [[Lord Cherwell]] and his adviser Donald MacDougall, who prepared a paper for Churchill. The counterargument was that the balance of payments would have worsened, as any reduction in demand for imports would have been swamped by the [[elasticity (economics)|rise in prices of imported goods]]. Furthermore, 90% of other countries' sterling balances, kept in London, were to be frozen. They too would effectively have been devalued, which would have angered Commonwealth countries, would have broken the rules for the [[International Monetary Fund]] and would not have been allowed under the new [[European Payments Union]].{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|pp=201–202}} He was also opposed by his junior minister, [[Arthur Salter, 1st Baron Salter|Arthur Salter]], while [[Lord Woolton]] insisted Eden should be involved since the policy would affect foreign relations.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 187">Howard 1987, p. 187.</ref> Eden opposed it in a rare intervention in domestic politics.<ref>Hennessy, p. 199.</ref> It was finally buried at two Cabinets, on 28 and 29 February 1952.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 187"/>

Butler followed to a large extent the economic policies of his Labour predecessor, [[Hugh Gaitskell]], by pursuing a [[mixed economy]] and [[Keynesian economics]] as part of the post-war political consensus. The name "[[Butskellism]]", referring to the generally similar economic policies pursued by both Conservative and Labour governments, was coined partly in response to Butler's extension of Gaitskell's NHS charges in 1952, the issue over which [[Aneurin Bevan]] and other Labour left-wingers had resigned in April 1951.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 218.</ref><ref>[[Roger Eatwell]], "European Political Cultures", Routledge, 2002, p. 58.</ref> In 1954, ''[[The Economist]]'' published an editorial headed "Mr Butskell's Dilemma", which referred to the "already... well-known figure" Mr Butskell as "a composite of the present Chancellor and the previous one".<ref>''The Economist'', "Mr. Butskell's Dilemma", 13 February 1954, p. 439.</ref> However, Butler had more interest in monetary policy and in convertibility, whereas Gaitskell was more inclined to exchange controls, investment and planning.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=202}}

Butler maintained [[import controls]] and began a more active [[monetary policy]].{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=203}} In the March 1952 budget, he raised the [[official bank rate]] to 4%, cut food subsidies by 40%, reduced taxes and increased pensions and welfare payments, the cumulative effect being to increase foreign exchange reserves but depress domestic demand.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=202}} His 1953 budget cut income tax and purchase tax and promised an end to the excess profits levy. When Churchill suffered a stroke in the summer of 1953, an illness that was concealed from the public, Butler acted as head of the Government since Churchill's presumed successor, Eden, was in the United States having medical treatment.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=202}} Between 29 June and 18 August 1953, Butler chaired sixteen Cabinet meetings. In July, Macmillan recorded a conversation with [[Walter Monckton]], who was willing to serve under Eden but not Butler, whom he considered "a slab of cold fish".<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 259.</ref>

Britain's economic problems were worsened by Monckton's appeasement of the trade unions (the 1954 rail strike was settled on the [[National Union of Railwaymen|union]]'s terms with Churchill's backing) and by Macmillan's drive to build 300,000 houses a year.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=202}}

Butler was appointed to the [[Order of the Companions of Honour]] in 1954.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=40073 |date=12 January 1954 |page=303}}</ref> He supported Churchill's proposal for Eden to take "command of the Home Front" in summer 1954, not least as he hoped to succeed Eden as foreign secretary.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 210">Howard 1987, p. 210.</ref> Butler was one of the ministers who demanded to Churchill's face (22 December 1954) that he set a date for his retirement.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 214.</ref>

==Under Eden==
===Move from the Exchequer===
Butler's political judgement was affected by the death of his first wife, Sydney, on 9 December 1954. In February 1955, he increased the bank rate and restored hire purchase restrictions, and the 1955 budget reduced income tax by 6d, which was allegedly based on faulty Treasury statistics.<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 260">Campbell 2009, p. 260.</ref> In April, [[Anthony Eden]] succeeded Churchill as prime minister. After the Conservatives won the [[1955 United Kingdom general election|May 1955 general election]], Butler declined a request he move from the Exchequer and later admitted that was a mistake.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=202}}<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 260"/> In an unfortunate speech on 18 October, he commented that the country must not sink into "easy evenings with port wine and over-ripe pheasant". The ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' commented that he had "dropped his silver spoon upon the polished floor".<ref>Howard 1987, p. 217.</ref> By now, it was apparent that the economy was "overheating" since inflation and the balance of payments deficit were rising sharply. The Cabinet refused to agree to cut bread subsidies, and there was a run on the pound. His final budget in October 1955 reversed several of the measures from the spring budget, which led to charges of electoral opportunism. Hugh Gaitskell accused him of having deliberately misled the electorate,{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=203}} which amused Macmillan, who wrote in his diary of how Butler was always talking of "honour" in Cabinet.<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 260"/> The introduction of purchase tax on kitchen utensils caused it to be labelled the "Pots and Pans" budget. Macmillan was already negotiating with Eden for Butler's job.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 218.</ref>

In December 1955, Butler was moved to the post of [[Lord Privy Seal]] and [[Leader of the House of Commons]]. Although he continued to act as a deputy for Eden on a number of occasions, he was not officially recognised as such, and his successor as chancellor, [[Harold Macmillan]], insisted on an assurance from Eden that Butler was not senior to him.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 160</ref> [[Harry Crookshank]] warned that he was committing "political suicide" by giving up a big department.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 221.</ref> He recorded that after December 1955 that "it was never again said of me, or for that matter of the British economy either, that we had ''la puissance d'une idée en marche''".<ref>Butler 1971, p. 148</ref>{{efn|A perception the British economy was falling behind other European countries, the so-called "British disease", began in the late 1950s when West Germany's GDP overtook Britain's.}}

Butler suffered from what his biographer calls an "inability to take Eden wholly seriously".<ref>Howard 1987, photo 25 opposite page 240.</ref> A number of his sardonic witticisms about Eden, who was already subject to press criticism, surfaced, and ''[[The Sunday People]]'' reported on 8 January 1956 that Eden was to resign and hand over the premiership to Butler. When it was officially denied, on 9 January, Butler told ''[[The Guardian]]'' that he was determined to "support the Prime Minister in all his difficulties" and that Eden was "the best Prime Minister we have".<ref>Howard 1987, p. 222.</ref><ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 367.</ref>

Butler threatened resignation in March 1956 over Macmillan's plans to reverse the 6d cut in income tax. Macmillan himself then threatened resignation unless he was allowed to make spending cuts instead.<ref>Campbell 2009, pp. 264–265.</ref> Butler also served as [[Rector of the University of Glasgow]] from 1956 to 1959.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}}

===Suez===
Butler was ill when [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] nationalised the [[Suez Canal]] and was not formally a member of the Cabinet Egypt Committee. Butler later claimed that he had tried to keep Eden "in a political straitjacket" and advocated an open invasion of Egypt. Gilmour wrote that this would have attracted even more international opprobrium than Eden's pretence of enforcing [[international law]].{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=203}}

Butler seemed to be doubtful of Eden's [[Suez Crisis|Suez policy]] but never said so openly.<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 365.</ref> Macmillan recorded on 24 August that Butler was "uncertain" and "wanted more time" before resorting to force. On 13 September, he recorded that Butler preferred to refer the matter to the UN, as Labour and the churches wanted.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 266.</ref> After the UN voted for an emergency force and an Israeli-Egyptian ceasefire seemed imminent, Butler tried to have the Anglo-French invasion halted. He ended up pleasing neither those who were opposed to the invasion nor those who supported it.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=203}}{{efn|"Butler's... indiscretions... gave the impression that he was not playing the game. Others were playing a deeper one". Gilmour refers here to Macmillan, who had initially supported the invasion but was now intriguing to become Prime Minister.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}}}}

On the evening of 6 November 1956, after the British ceasefire had been announced, Butler was observed to be "smiling broadly" on the front bench and astonished some Conservatives by saying that he "would not hesitate to convey" to the absent prime minister the concerns expressed by Gaitskell.<ref name="Howard 1987 237">Howard 1987, p. 237.</ref> Eden's press secretary, William Clark, an opponent of the policy, complained, "God how power corrupts. The way RAB has turned and trimmed". He later resigned, along with [[Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth|Edward Boyle]] ([[Economic Secretary to the Treasury]]), as soon as the fighting was over.<ref name="Howard 1987 237"/> Butler was seen as disloyal because he aired his doubts freely in private while he was supporting the government in public, and he later admitted that he should have resigned.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 267.</ref> On 14 November, Butler blurted out all that had happened to 20 Conservative MPs of the Progress Trust in a Commons Dining Room (his speech was described by Gilmour as "almost suicidally imprudent").<ref name="Howard 1987 p238">Howard 1987, p. 238.</ref>

Butler had to announce British withdrawal from the Canal Zone (22 November), which made him once again appear an "appeaser" to Conservative supporters up and down the country. That evening, Butler addressed the [[1922 Committee]] of Conservative backbenchers, where his pedestrian defence of government policy was upstaged by a speech by Macmillan.<ref>Thorpe 2010, pp. 353–354.</ref><ref>Howard 1987, pp. 240–241.</ref>

Butler was seen to be an indecisive leader who was not up to Macmillan's stature.<ref>{{cite book|author=Keith Kyle|title=Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcPU0u3iC88C&pg=PA534|year=2011|publisher=I.B.Tauris|page=534|isbn=9781848855335|access-date=23 March 2016|archive-date=27 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627120448/http://books.google.com/books?id=qcPU0u3iC88C&pg=PA534|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the Press Association were briefed that Rab was "in effective charge" during Eden's absence in Jamaica from 23 November.<ref name="Howard 1987 p238"/> Eden was not in telephone contact and did not return to Britain until 14 December.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 241.</ref>

Shadow Chancellor [[Harold Wilson]] said that Butler had "the look of a born loser" (20 December).<ref>Jago 2015, p380</ref> Butler spent most of his Christmas break shooting.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 243.</ref> He later recorded that during his period as acting Head of Government at Number 10, he had noticed constant comings and goings of ministers to Macmillan's study in Number 11, next door, and that those who attended all later received promotion when Macmillan became prime minister. Butler, unlike Macmillan, preferred the assessments of the [[Chief Whip of the Conservative Party|Chief Whip]] (Edward Heath) and [[Chairman of the Conservative Party|Chairman of the Party]] ([[Oliver Poole, 1st Baron Poole|Oliver Poole]]), who believed that Eden could survive as prime minister until the summer recess if his health held up.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 244.</ref>

However, there is circumstantial evidence that Butler may have colluded with Eden's doctor, [[Horace Evans, 1st Baron Evans|Sir Horace Evans]], to exaggerate the state of Eden's health to encourage him to resign. Evans wrote Butler an ambiguous letter about "your help and guidance over my difficult problems with AE" and added, "Here we have made, I have no doubt, the right decision". Anthony Howard observes that any interpretation of the letter is "purely speculative" and that there is "no concrete evidence" of what actually occurred.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 245.</ref>

===Succession to Eden===
Eden resigned as prime minister on Wednesday 9 January 1957. At the time, the Conservative Party had no formal mechanism for determining a new leader, but Queen [[Elizabeth II]] received overwhelming advice to appoint Macmillan as prime minister instead of Butler, rather than wait for a party meeting to decide. Churchill had reservations about both candidates but later admitted that he had advised her to appoint "the older man", Macmillan. In the presence of [[Lord Chancellor]] [[David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir|Kilmuir]], [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]] interviewed the Cabinet one by one and with his famous speech impediment asked each one whether he was for "Wab or Hawold".<ref>The quote appears on page 285 of ''Political Adventure'', Kilmuir's memoirs.</ref> Kilmuir recalled that three ministers were for Butler: [[Walter Monckton]], [[Patrick Buchan-Hepburn]] and [[James Stuart, 1st Viscount Stuart of Findhorn|James Stuart]], all of whom left the government thereafter. Salisbury himself later recorded that all of the Cabinet were for Macmillan except for Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, who was for Butler, and [[Selwyn Lloyd]], who abstained.<ref name="Howard 1987 p246-7">Howard 1987, pp. 246–247.</ref><ref name="Thorpe 2010, p361-2">Thorpe 2010, pp. 361–362.</ref> Salisbury may not have been an entirely impartial returning officer, as Butler had replaced Salisbury (Lord Cranborne as he had been at the time) as Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1938, who when the latter had resigned over policy towards Italy. [[Julian Amery]], who was not a member of the Cabinet at the time, alleged that Salisbury interviewed ministers in the order of their loyalty to Macmillan and kept the tally in plain view on the table so that waverers would be more inclined to plump for the winning candidate.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p361-2"/>

Heath (Chief Whip) and [[John Morrison, 1st Baron Margadale|John Morrison]] (Chairman of the [[1922 Committee]]) advised that the Suez group of right-wing Conservative backbenchers would be reluctant to follow Rab.<ref name="Howard 1987 p246-7"/><ref name="Thorpe 2010, p361-2"/> The whips rang [[Robert Boothby|Boothby]] (pro-Macmillan) in Strasbourg to obtain his views, but there is no evidence that they were very assiduous in canvassing known pro-Butler MPs.<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 270">Campbell 2009, p. 270.</ref>

Butler later claimed to have been "not surprised" not to be chosen in 1957.<ref>Butler 1971, pp. 195–196.</ref> In fact, he appears to have fully expected to be appointed and aroused his sister's misgivings by asking, "What shall I say in my broadcast to the nation tomorrow?"<ref name="Howard 1987 p246-7"/> Heath, who brought him the news that he had not been chosen, later wrote that he appeared "utterly dumbfounded" and that for years afterwards, he was known to ask colleagues why he had been passed over. Heath suggests that caused a loss of confidence, which prevented him from gaining the premiership in 1963.<ref>Heath, p. 179.</ref> The media were taken by surprise by the choice, but Butler confessed in his memoirs that there was a sizeable anti-Butler faction on the backbenches, but there was no such anti-Macmillan faction. Butler spoke bitterly the next day about "our beloved Monarch".<ref name="Howard 1987 p249-50">Howard 1987, pp. 249–250.</ref>

Butler attributed his defeat to Macmillan's "ambience" and "connections". He said "savage" things to [[Derek Marks]] of the ''[[Daily Express]]'', who protected Butler's reputation by not printing them and years later told Alistair Horne, Macmillan's biographer that he "could not understand" why he had been passed over after "picking up the pieces" after Suez. [[Nigel Nicolson]], who had conceded that "in the circumstances", Macmillan was the right choice, wrote of the "melancholy that right had not triumphed" with which Butler proposed Macmillan as leader at the party meeting on 22 January.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 271.</ref>

In Gilmour's view, Butler did not organise a leadership campaign in 1957 because he had expected Eden to hang on until Easter or summer.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=204}} Campbell wrote, "The succession was sewn up before Rab even realised there was a contest".<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 269.</ref> [[Richard Crossman]] wrote in his diary (11 January), "This whole operation has been conducted from the top by a very few people with great speed and skill, so that Butler was outflanked and compelled to surrender almost as quickly as the Egyptians at Sinai".<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 270"/> [[Brendan Bracken]] wrote that besides his perceived stance of pursuing Labour policies, the "audience (was) tired of" Butler who had been the heir apparent for too long, an analysis that is echoed by Campbell, who likens Macmillan's sudden emergence after a quick succession of senior jobs to that of [[John Major]] in 1989–1990 and points out that like Major, Macmillan pretended to be "right wing" to win the leadership despite having views similar to his opponent's.<ref>Campbell 2009, pp. 269, 272.</ref>

==Under Macmillan==
===Home Office===
Butler had to accept the [[Secretary of State for the Home Department|Home Office]] under Macmillan, not the Foreign Office, which he wanted.<ref name="Howard 1987 p249-50"/> In his memoirs, Macmillan claimed that Butler "chose" the [[Home Office]], an assertion of which Butler drily observed in his own memoirs that Macmillan's memory "played him false".<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 273.</ref> Heath corroborates Butler's claim that he had wanted the Foreign Office and suggested that with his "quiet charm", he could have won over the Americans.<ref>Heath 1998, p. 180.</ref> Butler also remained [[Leader of the House of Commons]].

In early 1958, he was left "holding the baby", as he put it, after Macmillan had departed on a Commonwealth tour after the resignation of Chancellor [[Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft|Thorneycroft]] and the Treasury team.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=204}}

Butler held the Home Office for five years, but his liberal views on [[hanging]] and [[flogging]] did little to endear him to rank-and-file Conservative members. He later wrote of "[[Colonel Blimp]]s of both sexes – and the female of the species was more deadly, politically, than the male". Butler later wrote that Macmillan, who kept a tight grip on foreign and economic policies, had given him "a completely free hand" in Home Office matters, which may well have been, in Gilmour's view, because reform was likely to blacken Butler in the eyes of Conservative activists.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=205}} Macmillan's official biographer believes that Butler simply had no interest in home affairs. Butler later said, "I couldn't deal with Eden, but I could deal with Mac".<ref>Horne 1989, pp. 80–81.</ref>

Butler inherited a [[Homicide Act 1957|Homicide Bill]], which introduced different degrees of murder. He had privately come to favour abolition of hanging but signed off on the execution of [[James Hanratty]], which was thought at the time to be a miscarriage of justice.<ref>A person sentenced to hang was entitled to appeal to the Monarch for mercy. In practice, that meant that the Home Secretary, to whom the task was delegated, had the final say on whether any execution should proceed.</ref> He declined to reintroduce [[corporal punishment]], according to the recommendation of the prewar Cadogan Report.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=204}}<ref>The young [[Margaret Thatcher]], who was just elected to the House of Commons at the 1959 general election, voted in favour of corporal punishment, the only time that she ever defied the party line.</ref>

Butler gave a very successful speech at the Conservative Conference in 1959. Despite the recommendations of the [[Wolfenden Report]], he could not decriminalise homosexual acts between consenting adults (that would not happen until [[Sexual Offences Act 1967|1967]]), but the Conservatives were more willing to implement Wolfenden's recommended [[Street Offences Act 1959|crackdown on street prostitution]]. He passed the Licensing Act 1961 and reformed the [[Obscene Publications Act 1959|law on obscene publications]]. The [[Betting and Gaming Act]] legalised betting.

Annual immigration from the Indian subcontinent had risen from 21,000 in 1959 to 136,000 in 1961. Butler introduced the [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962|first curbs on immigration]] although the Eden Cabinet had contemplated measures in 1955. It was initially opposed by Labour, but the party brought in [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968|stricter curbs]] when it returned to office.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=205}}

Enoch Powell praised Butler's performance as a great reforming Home Secretary. He recalled that if Butler was absent from his post as Chairman of the Cabinet Home Affairs Committee, it was if the government itself "came to a standstill".<ref>Horne 1989, p. 80.</ref>

===Other Cabinet positions===
Besides the Home Office, Butler held other senior government jobs in these years. He likened himself to the [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] character "[[Pooh Bah]]".<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 292.</ref> In October 1959, after [[1959 United Kingdom general election|that year's general election]], he was appointed [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]], which required him to attack Labour in the country, but as Leader of the House, he had to co-operate with Labour in the Commons.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=204}} His new position prompted an analogy, described as "ludicrous" by Anthony Howard, in ''[[The Economist]]'' with [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s rise to power through control of the [[Soviet Communist Party]].<ref>Howard 1987, p. 269.</ref>

In 1960, Macmillan moved Selwyn Lloyd from the Foreign Office to the Exchequer by telling him that it would put him in a good position to challenge Butler for the succession. He appointed Lord Home as Foreign Secretary, refused again to appoint Butler and told him that it would be "like [[Herbert Morrison]]" if he took the position. That was "fantastically insulting" in Campbell's view, as Morrison was then regarded as "the worst Foreign Secretary in living memory". Butler disagreed with the analysis but accepted it, enabling Macmillan to claim once again that he had declined the Foreign Office. Butler declined to accept Home's old place as [[Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations|Commonwealth Secretary]].<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 276-7">Campbell 2009, pp. 276–277.</ref>

In the October 1961 reshuffle, Butler lost the party chairmanship to Iain Macleod, who also insisted on getting the job of Leader of the House, which Butler had held since 1955. Butler retained the Home Office and declined Macmillan's suggestion to accept a peerage. Butler gave an excellent party conference speech in October 1961.<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 276-7"/> In March 1962, Butler was made head of the newly-created Central African Department.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=205}}<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 288–289.</ref> Butler was, however, given oversight of the EEC entry negotiations, which he strongly supported despite worries about the agricultural vote in his constituency.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=205}} A cartoon showed Macmillan and Butler as the miserable emigrating couple in [[Ford Madox Brown]]'s painting ''[[The Last of England (painting)|The Last of England]]''.<ref>Howard, p. 214.</ref>

Butler helped to precipitate Macmillan's brutal "[[Night of the Long Knives (1962)|Night of the Long Knives]]" reshuffle by leaking to the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' on 11 July 1962 that a major reshuffle was imminent.<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 520.</ref> He referred to it as the "[[Massacre of Glencoe]]".<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 519.</ref> Macmillan later told Selwyn Lloyd on 1 August that he thought Butler had been planning to split the party over entry to the [[European Economic Community]].<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 524.</ref> In the reshuffle, Butler lost the Home Office although he kept the Central Africa Department. He also became the inaugural [[First Secretary of State]], a position that was created partly to avoid the earlier constitutional objections to that of [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]].{{Sfn|Brazier|2020|pp=74–75}} However, he continued to act as a deputy for Macmillan, as he had earlier for Eden as well, including for six weeks during Macmillan's 1958 tour of the Commonwealth.{{Sfn|Brazier|2020|pp=70, 80}}

Macmillan allegedly told Butler that he was the most likely successor as prime minister, but Macmillan used the opportunity to promote younger men, who might provide an alternative. They included [[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|Lord Hailsham]], who was given the task of negotiating the [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty|Test Ban Treaty]]; [[Reginald Maudling]], who was appointed chancellor; and [[Edward Heath]], who oversaw the EEC entry negotiations; he hoped to groom one of them as an alternative successor.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=205}}<ref>Thorpe 2010, pp. 551–552.</ref>

==Succession to Macmillan==
===Profumo, peerages and Africa===
[[File:Rab Butler.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0|Butler in 1963]]
Butler told [[Tony Benn]] in February 1963 that he expected Macmillan to stay on and fight the next general election,<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 283">Campbell 2009, p. 283.</ref> which could occur no later than 1964. During the crisis caused by [[Profumo affair]], Butler was asked by Martin Redmayne, the Conservative [[Chief Whip]], and [[Oliver Poole, 1st Baron Poole|Lord Poole]], [[Chairman of the Conservative Party|Party Chairman]], if he would in principle serve in a Maudling government.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 300.</ref> He was also visited by Maudling, the two men agreeing to serve under each other if necessary. Since Butler was technically his senior, Maudling believed that gave him an advantage. It was reported that the Cabinet generally backed Butler, but backbench MPs supported Maudling.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 302.</ref>

On 16 July, the Lords amended the Peerage Bill, which was then passing through Parliament, so that any existing peer could disclaim his peerage within twelve months of the bill becoming law, not after the next general election, as originally planned. The [[Peerage Act 1963]] received Royal Assent on 31 July, which allowed Lords Hailsham and Home to become potential candidates for the succession.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 303.</ref>

By mid-1963, Butler had largely come to believe (or so he alleged in a 1966 interview)<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 283" /> that he was probably too old for the leadership and that when Macmillan resigned, the position would go to a younger man. This may explain why Butler did not put up much of a fight for the leadership that autumn, although in fact Home, the eventually successful candidate, was almost exactly the same age as Butler, and both men were substantially younger than Macmillan himself had been when he first entered 10 Downing Street.

In the summer of 1963, Macmillan told [[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|Lord Hailsham]], "Rab simply doesn't have it in him to be Prime Minister".{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=205}} Just before Butler departed for the [[Victoria Falls Hotel|Victoria Falls]] Conference in July 1963, John Morrison, still Chairman of the [[1922 Committee]], told him bluntly to his face: "The chaps won't have you".<ref name="Horne 1989, p.550">Horne 1989, p. 550.</ref>

At the Victoria Falls Conference, Butler dissolved the [[Central African Federation]]. The following year, the [[Nyasaland Protectorate]] became independent as [[Malawi]] and [[Northern Rhodesia]] as [[Zambia]]; [[Southern Rhodesia]] declared [[Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence|unilateral independence]] from Britain in 1965.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=205}}

===Conference and customary processes===
In October 1963, Macmillan, having just decided to stay on and to lead the party into the next general election, was taken ill on the eve of the Conservative Party Conference. Butler insisted on occupying the leader's suite at the [[The Imperial Hotel Blackpool|Imperial Hotel]] and on delivering the leader's speech on the final day (12 October).<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 310–311.</ref> During the conference, Lord Home announced that Macmillan was to resign as prime minister. In the confusion of the next few days, Hailsham campaigned openly for the job in a manner that was considered vulgar. Butler, Home and their wives lunched together on Saturday 12 October. Home said that he would be seeing his doctor that week and so hinted that he might be about to put his name forward for the leadership.<ref>Jago 2015, p383</ref> Butler's speech, when he delivered it, was an attempt to update the postwar Charters to modern politics, and he reprinted some of the speech verbatim in his memoirs. However, his delivery was, in Heath's later description, "monotonous and ineffective and did him no good whatever".<ref>Heath 1998, p. 255.</ref> Howard described it as "flat and uninspiring",<ref>Howard 1987, p. 313.</ref> and [[Peregrine Worsthorne]] wrote at the time that he spoke in a "limp and faltering voice".<ref name="Horne 1989, p.550"/> Butler later called the Imperial "that awful hotel"<ref>Howard 1987, p. 314.</ref> and refused to visit Blackpool ever again.<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 561.</ref>

Back in London, Macmillan, from his hospital bed, proposed on 14 October a four-track consultation to "take soundings" (of the opinions of Cabinet, MPs, peers and leading members of the party organisation in the country) and to select a consensus leader through the "customary processes". The Cabinet met and was chaired by Butler on 15 October, and approved the plan, which was to be completed by 17 October.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 316-7">Howard 1987, pp. 316–317.</ref> Howard argues that Butler should also have insisted that the Cabinet meet again on 17 October to approve the "results" of the soundings.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 316-7"/>

[[Selwyn Lloyd]] visited Macmillan in hospital on 16 October and argued against Butler, who he said was much disliked in the constituency associations "particularly the Women. Why that is, no one seems to know".<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p. 572">Thorpe 2010, p. 572.</ref><ref>Horne 1989, p. 558.</ref> Current ministers who visited Macmillan in hospital included [[Duncan Sandys]], who advised for Home not as a compromise but on his own merits, and Edward Heath who felt that Butler would be uninspiring and had not emerged as a natural and undisputed successor in the way that he should have. Other ministers thought either Butler or Home to be suitable. Edward Boyle later felt he had been too favourable to the idea of a Home leadership, which led to him being wrongly recorded as a Home supporter.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p. 572"/> Sitting at the Cabinet table on 16 October during the soundings, Butler said "I don't know what's happening" before adding "but I do really". When asked what he would do if once again not appointed prime minister, he replied, "I shall behave with dignity".<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p. 580">Thorpe 2010, p. 580.</ref>

===Results of the consultations===
Much ink has been spilled on how badly the consultation process was rigged, but Macmillan recommended the outside candidate [[Alec Douglas-Home|Lord Home]] for the premiership.

[[Lord Chancellor]] [[Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne|Dilhorne]] had already begun polling the Cabinet at the Blackpool Conference and claimed that not counting Macmillan or Home, 10 were for Home (including [[Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth|Boyle]] and Macleod, both of whom later insisted that they supported Butler), 4 for Maudling (originally 3, amended to 5 and then down to 4), 3 for Butler and 2 for Hailsham.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p. 573">Thorpe 2010, p. 573.</ref> In a review of Horne's ''Life of Macmillan'' published in the [[London Review of Books]] in 1989, Gilmour argued that Dilhorne falsified the figures<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 574.</ref> a claim that was repeated in 2004.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}} Dilhorne recorded Hailsham as saying that he could "not" serve under Butler. Hailsham in fact claimed that he "had" offered to serve under Butler if necessary.<ref name="Sandford 2005, pp.701-5">Sandford 2005, pp. 701–705.</ref> [[Frederick Erroll, 1st Baron Erroll of Hale|Frederick Errol]], [[President of the Board of Trade]], had been told by Chief Whip [[Martin Redmayne]] at Blackpool that the succession had been already arranged for Home,<ref name="Sandford 2005, pp.701-5"/> as had [[John Boyd-Carpenter]], a Butler supporter, on 9 October.<ref>Jago 2015, p380-1</ref>

Redmayne's whips had also begun polling MPs and junior ministers at Blackpool and claimed that 87 supported Home and 86 Butler, another claim that was ridiculed by Ian Gilmour,{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}} and 65 MPs were found to be for Hailsham, 48 for Maudling, 12 for Macleod and 10 for Edward Heath, with Home being well ahead on second preferences.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p. 573"/> Despite denials by the whips, Redmayne let slip in a radio interview (19 December 1963, subsequently published in ''[[The Listener (magazine)|The Listener]]'') about the four questions they asked: namely, their first and second preferences as leader, whether or not there was any candidate whom they especially "opposed" and whether they would in principle accept Home as leader.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 324.</ref> [[Humphry Berkeley]] refused to answer the "hypothetical question" of whether he would support Home as compromise between Butler and Hailsham.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 323.</ref> [[Jim Prior]] (then a backbencher) and [[Willie Whitelaw]] (then a junior minister) later recalled how they felt the whips were pushing Home's candidacy. Prior's first choice was Maudling and second Butler, and he opposed Hailsham but suspected that he had been recorded as pro-Home after repeated pushing on the fourth question. Whitelaw thought the fourth question "improper".<ref name="Sandford 2005, pp.701-5"/>

Amongst Conservative peers, Home led Butler by 2 to 1.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p. 573"/> The constituency parties, in so far as their views could be ascertained, were reported as being 60% for Hailsham and 40% for Butler, with strong opposition to both. They had not really been offered Home as a candidate, but it was reported that they would "rally round him".<ref>Horne 1989, p. 559.</ref>

===The "Quad" rebel===
The results of the consultation became known to the rest of the Cabinet around lunchtime on 17 October. Powell, Macleod, Hailsham and Maudling (known as "the Quad" in some accounts of the following days) were outraged and sought to persuade Butler to refuse to serve under Home in the belief that it would make a Home premiership impossible and result in Butler taking office. Macleod and Maudling demanded that Dilhorne lay the results of his consultations before the Cabinet, but he refused to do so.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 316-7"/> Butler was not present at the meetings (17 October) at 5pm at Macleod's flat and that night at Powell's house during which Maudling agreed to serve under Butler.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 318-19">Howard 1987, pp. 318–319.</ref> Hailsham, who was at a separate gathering but keeping in touch with Powell's house by telephone, also agreed to serve under Butler. He telephoned Butler and repeated his answers aloud to the room as if he were a barrister "leading" a slow witness (Butler said that he had been "dozing off" and ended the conversation by repeating that he was off to do so) before telling him "you must put on your armour, dear Rab".{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}}<ref name="Sandford 2005, pp.701-5"/> The "Quad" summoned Martin Redmayne, who stood firm against their demands. They demanded that he pass on their concerns to the Palace. Then, [[Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington|Lord Aldington]], who had also been at the meeting, drove Redmayne back and telephoned Sir [[Michael Adeane]], the [[Private Secretary to the Sovereign|Queen's Private Secretary]], to make sure the message was passed on.<ref name="Sandford 2005, pp.701-5"/>

Powell, a wartime brigadier, observed that they had given Butler a loaded revolver, which he had refused to use on the grounds that it might make a noise. Macleod commented that they had put the "golden ball in his lap, if he drops it now it's his own fault".{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}}<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 334.</ref><ref>Howard 1987, p. 320.</ref>

''The Times'' wrote of Butler on Friday morning (18 October) that "he always looks as if he will be the next Prime Minister until it seems that the throne may actually be vacant".{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=429}} Macmillan finally resigned that morning, the Queen calling on him in hospital shortly afterwards to receive his written "advice". He had likened the "Quad" to the [[Fox-North Coalition]] and had to urge Home, who had agreed to stand only as a compromise candidate, not to withdraw.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 288.</ref> Butler called Dilhorne the same morning to demand a meeting of the three main candidates (Butler, Home and Maudling) before the succession was resolved; "no reply was vouchsafed", as Butler put it. Butler, Macleod, Hailsham and Maudling met at the Treasury on 18 October as Home was at the Palace, accepting the Queen's invitation to " try" to form a government.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 318-19"/>

Butler was pushing for a two-way meeting with Home, but he should, in Howard's view, have insisted on Home confronting the "Quad". Home immediately moved into Number 10 and interviewed Butler then Maudling early in the afternoon. Butler did not at first agree to serve, as he had reservations about whether Home, a peer and not a moderniser, was a suitable prime minister.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 319.</ref> Hailsham, Butler and Maudling finally met Home that evening after dinner, by which time Hailsham was already wavering and expressing a willingness to serve under Home.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 321">Howard 1987, p. 321.</ref> Butler's old friend, Geoffrey Lloyd, sat up with him until 3am on the morning of Saturday 19 October, telling him that "if you're not prepared to put everything to the touch, you don't deserve to be Prime Minister".<ref>Howard 1987, pp. 320–321.</ref>

===Butler agrees to serve===
The next morning (19 October), Butler and then Maudling agreed to serve under Home, who returned to the Palace to report that he could "form a government" and to "kiss hands", i.e. formally accept appointment as prime minister.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 321"/> The Queen is thought to have privately preferred Home, whom she knew well socially, to Butler, although that did not influence the decision.<ref name="Sandford 2005, pp.701-5"/> The Palace knew that Home could not form a government without Butler serving,<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 287">Campbell 2009, p. 287.</ref> although Home himself later said that he could have formed a government without Butler but not without Maudling.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p. 580"/>

Some, including Macmillan, argued that Butler's vacillation was further proof of his unfitness to be prime minister. Lord Poole commented that "if you had seen him yesterday morning, dithering about in a gutless sort of way, you would not want him to be Prime Minister of this country. I was quite appalled, quite disgusted".<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 290.</ref>

Butler later alleged in a letter to ''The Times'' that not to have served might have led to a Labour government; the suggestion was later dismissed as absurd by Wilson himself.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} Butler later described Home as an "amiable enough creature".{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}} He was motivated by his knowledge of [[Robert Peel]] and the split over the [[Corn Laws]].<ref name="Thorpe 2010, p. 580"/> He later told [[Elizabeth Longford]] that it was "the supremely unforgettable political lesson of history.... I could never do the same thing in the twentieth century, under any circumstances whatever".<ref name="Campbell 2009, p. 287"/>

Powell and Macleod refused to serve under Home.<ref>Williams, Charles ''Harold Macmillan'' (2009), p. 448.</ref> Butler had planned to make Macleod Chancellor of the Exchequer and discussed the names of economists who could be asked to advise.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 317.</ref>

Butler was less devastated than in 1957, as this time, it was largely a voluntary abnegation.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 321"/> In a BBC radio interview in 1978, he discussed that in 1963, he had been passed over in favour of a "terrific gent", not a "most ghastly [[walrus]]".<ref>Howard 1987, p. 322.</ref> Home and even Macmillan himself in the 1980s later conceded that it might have been better if Butler had become leader.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}} The episode of Home's elevation was a public relations disaster for the Conservatives, who decided to [[1965 Conservative Party leadership election|elect their next leader]] (Edward Heath in 1965) by a transparent ballot of MPs.

==Foreign Secretary under Douglas-Home==
Home appointed Butler [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Foreign Secretary]] but he lost the title of deputy prime minister.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 330.</ref> Macmillan, trying to control events from his sickbed, had urged Home to appoint Heath as Foreign Secretary but conceded that allowing Butler to have the position that he had always coveted might be a necessary price for his agreeing to serve.<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 577.</ref>

Macleod's article in ''[[The Spectator]]'' of 17 January 1964 in which he claimed that the leadership had been stitched up by a "Magic Circle" of Old Etonians damaged Macleod in the eyes of Conservatives, but some of the damage stuck to Butler as well.<ref>Jago 2015, p.318</ref> Butler later wrote in ''The Art of Memory'' that "every word" of Macleod's ''Spectator'' article "[wa]s true".<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 360.</ref>

Butler was able to speak fluent French to [[French Foreign Minister]] [[Maurice Couve de Murville]] to the latter's surprise.<ref>Jago 2015, p.319</ref> Butler's only major foreign trip was to Washington in late March 1964, where US President [[Lyndon Johnson]] complained about the sale of [[Leyland Motors|British-made]] buses to [[Fidel Castro|Castro]]-controlled Cuba, which was under a US trade embargo.<ref>Jago 2015, p.400</ref>

Butler played only a small part in the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]] campaign. He showed his lack of stomach for the fight by agreeing with the journalist [[George Gale (journalist)|George Gale]] of the ''Daily Express'' that the very close campaign "might yet slip away" in the "last few days". [[Randolph Churchill]] wrote that he had "uttered his own death-wish and death warrant".<ref>Howard 1987, p. 334.</ref> He would not have retained the Foreign Office if the Conservatives had won.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}} The job had already been promised to [[Christopher Soames]].<ref>Jago 2015, p.401</ref> Many, including Wilson, said that Butler would have won the 1964 general election if he had been prime minister.<ref>Williams, Charles ''Harold Macmillan'' (2009), p. 453.</ref>

At the comparatively early age of 61, Butler left office with one of the longest records of ministerial experience for contemporary politicians. After the election, he lost the chairmanship of the Conservative Research Department, which he had headed for 20 years, and refused Home's offer of an earldom, a rank normally granted to former prime ministers at the time ([[Harold Macmillan]], for example, refused a barony in 1964 but accepted an earldom in 1984).{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}}<ref>Howard 1987, p. 336.</ref><ref>Jago 2015, p. 407</ref>

==Later life==
===Master of Trinity and memoirs===
Butler remained on the Conservative front bench into the next year. Harold Wilson felt that the Conservatives had made Butler a scapegoat after the ''Daily Express'' incident during the election, and on 23 December 1964, Wilson offered him the job of Master of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] (where Butler's great-uncle [[Henry Montagu Butler]] had previously been Master and the incumbent Lord Adrian was due to retire on 30 June 1965). Butler did not accept until the middle of January and took office at the start of the new academic year on 7 October 1965.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=43708 |date=9 July 1965 |page=6519}}</ref> On 19 February 1965, he was created a [[life peer]] as '''Baron Butler of Saffron Walden''', ''of [[Halstead]] in the [[County of Essex]]'';<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=43580 |date=19 February 1965 |page=1759}}</ref> because of his appointment as master he sat as a [[crossbencher|cross-bench peer]] in the House of Lords. Between the 1964 election and his retirement from the House of Commons, he had been [[Father of the House (United Kingdom)|Father of the House]].{{Sfn|Jago|2015|pp=405–407}}

There was little consultation of Trinity fellows prior to Butler's appointment, but his opponents backed down in the face of public approval.{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=409}} Butler was the first master in 250 years who had not  himself been a student at the college.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}}

[[King Charles III]], then Prince of Wales, studied at Trinity (1967–1970) during Butler's time as Master. Initially it was thought that he might study an ''ad hoc'' course; a humorous cartoon showed Butler telling the Prince that he was to study a specially made-up history course "in which I become Prime Minister".<ref>Howard 1987, p. 351.</ref> Instead Butler recommended that unlike previous members of the Royal Family, Prince Charles live in College, study for a normal degree and sit Finals like any other undergraduate. After initial reluctance, the Palace agreed.<ref>Jago 2015, p412 The Prince studied Part I Archaeology and Anthropology then Part II History, obtaining a II.1 and II.2 respectively.</ref> Butler was publicly promoted as a mentor and counsellor to the Prince by making himself available for a 45-minute time slot each evening before dinner if the Prince wished to seek his advice. He turned a blind eye to Prince Charles keeping a car in college (in breach of the rules) but exclaimed "Hell no!" when the Prince asked if he might join the Labour Club. Butler also gave Lucia Santa Cruz, his research assistant for his memoirs, a key to the Master's Lodge and often let her stay, which gave rise to rumours that he was facilitating a romance between her and the Prince.<ref>Jago 2015, p413-5</ref> Butler's appointment to the [[Order of the Garter]] on 23 April 1971<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=45349 |date=23 April 1971 |page=4083}}</ref> was seen as a gesture of recognition for his guidance of the young Prince.<ref>Jago 2015, p417</ref>

Butler soon earned respect by his brisk chairing of College Council Meetings, which was important because of Trinity College's huge investments in land and businesses, which generated an income of £1 million per annum at the time. He was also a director of Courtaulds, the family company, at this time.<ref>Jago 2015, p407</ref> By 1971, the fellows had warmed to him enough to vote recommending (successfully) that he be given a second six-year term,{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=206}} despite the normal retirement age for masters being seventy.<ref>Jago 2015, p421</ref>

Butler's memoirs, ''The Art of the Possible'', appeared in 1971.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|pp=206–207}} He wrote that he had decided to "eschew the current autobiographical fashion for multi-volume histories". (Macmillan was bringing out an autobiography, which would eventually run to six large volumes.)<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 588.</ref> The work, largely ghosted by Peter Goldman, was described as the best single-volume autobiography since Duff Cooper's ''[[Old Men Forget]]'' in 1953.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 353.</ref>

Butler also served active as the first Chancellor of the [[University of Essex]]<ref>{{cite web|title=University of Essex Calendar|url=http://www.essex.ac.uk/academic/docs/cal/former.shtm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007233550/http://www.essex.ac.uk/academic/docs/cal/former.shtm|archive-date=7 October 2012}}</ref> from 1966 to his death and Chancellor of the [[University of Sheffield]] from 1959 to 1977. He was High Steward of Cambridge University from 1958 to 1966 and High Steward of the City of Cambridge from 1963 until his death.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1982/mar/10/tributes-to-the-late-lord-butler-of Tributes to the late Lord Butler] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226142639/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1982/mar/10/tributes-to-the-late-lord-butler-of |date=26 December 2012 }}, ''Hansard'', House of Lords, 10 March 1982, vol 428, col 199.</ref>

===Second term at Trinity ===
From 1972 to 1975, Butler chaired the high-profile Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders, which was widely referred to as the [[Butler Committee]] and which proposed major reforms to the law and psychiatric services, some of which have been implemented.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1972/jun/29/graham-young Debate in Parliament about the case] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919015359/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1972/jun/29/graham-young |date=19 September 2015}} ([[Hansard]], HC Deb 29 June 1972 vol 839 cc1673-85).</ref>

By the early 1970s, Butler's physical and mental powers were in unmistakable decline. He was, in the description of [[Charles Moore (journalist)|Charles Moore]], then a student at Trinity, well into his "anecdotage". He scaled back his public appearances after an incident at the [[Booker Prize]] awards in London in December 1973, at which he told ill-judged [[anti-Semitic]] jokes, which caused grave offence to the publisher [[George Weidenfeld]].<ref>Jago 2015, p.419</ref>

As early as 1938, [[Chips Channon]] had called Butler's clothes "truly tragic" and as he grew older, Butler acquired an ever more dishevelled appearance.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|p=203}} He ate and drank copiously as Master of Trinity, which caused him to put on weight and to begin to suffer from heart problems.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 355.</ref> On a visit to Cambridge in 1975, the first time that the two men had met in a decade, Macmillan commented on how fat Butler had become.<ref>Thorpe 2010, p. 800.</ref> Butler also suffered from a skin complaint from the 1950s, which grew progressively worse to the point towards the end of his life, he would sometimes appear unshaven in public.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 361-2"/>

In June and October 1976, he spoke in the House of Lords against the planned nationalisation of [[Felixstowe Docks]], owned by Trinity College. He argued that Trinity, which has had more [[Nobel Prize]] winners than the whole of France, spent the income on science research and on subsidising smaller Cambridge colleges. The bill was abandoned after it was delayed by the House of Lords.<ref>Jago 2015, p422-3</ref>

Butler's term as Master ended in 1978. Butler House at Trinity is named after him.<ref>Howard 1987, p. 357.</ref>

===Final years===
Butler published ''The Conservatives'' in 1977.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|pp=206–207}} His last speech in the House of Lords, in March 1980, was to defend the provision of free school buses, which he regarded as vital for Conservative support in rural areas.<ref>Jago 2015, p423</ref> His last public appearance, by which time he was unwell and had to remain seated, was on 13 January 1982 at the unveiling of his portrait at the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]].{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=422}}

Butler died of colon cancer in March 1982 in [[Great Yeldham]], Essex.<ref name="Howard 1987, p. 361-2">Howard 1987, pp. 361–362.</ref> He is buried in the churchyard of the parish church of [[St Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden|St Mary the Virgin]] in [[Saffron Walden]] (see [https://d38ls2kcjnhfdj.cloudfront.net/60612716-215e-4e58-9952-4a9d268cf318.JPG image]). His will was probated at £748,789 (21 October 1982) (over £2.3m at 2014 prices).<ref name="measuringworth.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php|title=Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound|website=measuringworth.com|access-date=29 March 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331194822/https://measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php|archive-date=31 March 2016}}</ref><ref>Matthew 2004, p. 207.</ref> His banner as Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter hangs in the church of St Mary's, Saffron Walden (see [https://web.archive.org/web/20150406220955/http://www.stmaryssaffronwalden.org/history/illus~booklet/images/bannerbutler600.jpg image]).

A further volume of memoirs, ''The Art of Memory'', appeared posthumously in 1982; modelled on Churchill's ''[[Great Contemporaries]]'', Howard suggests that it matches his "neither in verve nor anecdote".<ref>Howard 1987, p. 406.</ref> His son [[Adam Butler (British politician)|Adam Butler]] was an MP from 1970 to 1987 and a junior minister under [[Margaret Thatcher]]. His grandson [[Ed Butler (British Army officer)|Ed Butler]] is a retired [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]] who commanded [[16 Air Assault Brigade]] and 22 [[Special Air Service]].<ref>{{cite book|title=War Against the Taliban: Why It All Went Wrong in Afghanistan|url=https://archive.org/details/waragainsttaliba0000gall|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|date=2013|page=[https://archive.org/details/waragainsttaliba0000gall/page/96 96]|first=Sandy|last=Gall|author-link=Sandy Gall}}</ref>

==Assessments==
{{Progressivism sidebar|politicians}}
Butler opened his memoirs by saying that his career had been split between academia, politics and India<ref>He called it "the [[Tripos]] of his life" after the three-legged mediaeval stool after which Cambridge examinations and degree courses are named.</ref> and that his main regret was never having been [[Viceroy of India]]. He regarded the [[Government of India Act 1935]] and the [[Education Act 1944]] as his "principal legislative achievements".<ref>Butler 1971, p. 1.</ref> He also wrote that the way to the top was through rebellion and resignation, but he had gone for "the long haul" and "steady influence".<ref>Butler 1971, p. 31.</ref> In an obvious dig at Home, he said in retirement "I may never have known much about fishing or flower-arranging, but one thing I did know was how to govern the people of this country".<ref>Howard 1987, p. 45.</ref>

His obituary in ''[[The Times]]'' in 1982 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".{{Sfn|Stafford|1985|p=901}}

Along with the Education Act 1944 and Butler's reforms as Home Secretary, John Campbell sees Butler's greatest achievement as the "redefine(ing of) the meaning of Conservatism" in opposition by encouraging the careers of talented younger men at the Research Department (Heath, Powell, Maudling, Macleod and Angus Maude, all of whom entered Parliament [[1950 United Kingdom general election|in 1950]]), by ensuring Conservative acceptance of the welfare state and a commitment to keeping unemployment low. Macmillan acknowledged Butler's role in his memoirs but stressed that those were the very policies that he had promoted in vain in the 1930s.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 255.</ref> Butler enjoyed 26.5 years in office, equalled only by Churchill in the twentieth century.<ref>Campbell 2009, p. 293.</ref>

His biographer Michael Jago argues that the Latin tag which Butler applied to Eden, omnium consensu [[capax imperii nisi imperasset]] ("by common consent fit to rule until he ruled"), could have been applied just as accurately to Butler himself. While Butler was possibly the best chancellor since 1945, this was overshadowed by the disastrous budgets in 1955. Combined with Suez, these destroyed his chances of becoming prime minister even without Macmillan's opposition in 1963; "the coup de grace administered seven years later by Macmillan was posthumous". He also suggests Butler's handling of the Central African Federation, despite his illness, suggests that he may have been "the best Foreign Secretary Britain never had", but these qualities were negated by his chronic indecisiveness, often about petty matters. He argues that he was indecisive as chancellor, and recounts how during the Profumo Affair he once telephoned a junior civil servant to ask what he should do, as well as occasions on which he was unable to decide on the menu for an official lunch, or whether to attend a reception at the Moroccan Embassy.{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=xiii–iv, 396, 429, 433–434}}

[[Roy Jenkins]], describing a stormy meeting that Butler had with [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], pinpointed a tendency in Butler's character in that "while Butler represented the forces of urbane, civilised superiority and Johnson the raw brashness of the insecure ''arriviste'', it was also the case that Butler was the natural servant of the state and LBJ the natural ruler". He noted that a similar dynamic was at work in Butler's relations with the equally domineering [[Winston Churchill]].<ref>Jenkins, Roy, ''Portraits & Miniatures'', Bloomsbury, London, 2011.</ref> Butler is remembered for his efforts as a [[Progressive conservative|progressive conservative]] to reform the [[Conservative Party (United Kingdom)|Conservative Party]], although he had been considered "too openly progressive for a Conservative leader even in the 1950’s."<ref>{{cite web |last=Hogan |first=Neil |date=2023 |title=R.A. Butler |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/r-butler |website=[[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO Knowledge Advantage - Research Starters]]|access-date=December 5, 2025}}</ref>

[[Edward Pearce (journalist)|Edward Pearce]] wrote of his legislative record that "Rab's failure was more brilliant than most politicians' success".<ref>Pearce 1997, p. 14.</ref>

Iain Macleod said of him that "Rab loves being a politician among academics and an academic among politicians; that is why neither breed of man likes him all that much".<ref>Jago 2015, p418</ref> Lobby correspondents (journalists who report on political affairs, including non-attributable information leaked to them) were advised never to believe anything that Butler told them but never to ignore anything he told them either.{{Sfn|Jago|2015|p=429}} Ian Gilmour argues that Butler was always more popular in the country than in his own party and that he acquired an unjust reputation for deviousness, but was in fact less so than a number of his colleagues.{{Sfn|Gilmour|2004|pp=203, 207}}

''The Guardian'' and the ''Daily Mirror'' praised him on his return to Cambridge in June 1965 but wrote that he had lacked the ruthless streak needed to get to the very top in politics.<ref>Jago 2015, p408</ref> ''The Economist'' (27 June 1970) called him "the last real policy-making Chancellor".<ref>Jago 2015, p430</ref>

==Personal life==
On 20 April 1926, Butler married Sydney Elizabeth Courtauld (1902–1954), the daughter of [[Samuel Courtauld (art collector)|Samuel Courtauld]] and co-heiress to the [[Courtaulds]] textile fortune. They had four children:
* [[Richard C. Butler|Sir Richard Clive Butler]] (1929–2012), President of the [[National Farmers' Union of England and Wales|National Farmers' Union]] from 1979 to 1986;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/9055114/Sir-Richard-Butler.html|title=Sir Richard Butler|date=1 February 2012|via=www.telegraph.co.uk|access-date=29 March 2018|archive-date=30 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330012608/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/9055114/Sir-Richard-Butler.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Adam Butler (politician)|Sir Adam Courtauld Butler]] (1931–2008), also a politician, father of [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]] [[Ed Butler (British Army officer)|Ed Butler]] (born 1962);<ref name=BP>''[[Burke's Peerage]]'', vol. I (2003), p. 441</ref>
* Samuel James Butler (1936–2015), father of [[Fleur Butler]] (born 1967);<ref name=BP/> and
* Sarah Teresa Butler (born 1944).

Sydney died of cancer in 1954, and in 1959, Butler married again, this time to Mollie Courtauld (1908–2009), who was the widow of Sydney's cousin, [[Augustine Courtauld]].{{Sfn|Howard|1987|pp=356–357}} They purchased Spencers, the house in Essex in which Mollie had lived with Augustine Courtauld.{{Efn|A Georgian house famous for its gardens, it contains the [[Delphinium]] 'Lord Butler', named after its previous owner <ref>{{cite web |title=Delphinium 'Lord Butler' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/97251/delphinium-lord-butler/details |website=res.org |access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref>}} She remained there until her death on 18 February 2009, at the age of 101.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5761510.ece |title=Lady Butler of Saffron Walden: widow of Rab Butler |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=6 February 2011 |location=London |date=19 February 2002 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604234155/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5761510.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/feb/24/obituary-lady-butler |title=Lady Butler of Saffron Walden |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=6 February 2011 |location=London |date=24 February 2009 |archive-date=17 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217033915/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/feb/24/obituary-lady-butler |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Coat of Arms of Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, KG, CH, PC, DL.png
|escutcheon = Gules on a chevron cottised between three covered cups all Or a cross couped Azure.
|crest = A falcon rising belled and jessed the dexter leg resting on a covered cup all Or.
|supporters = Dexter a falcon belled Or, sinister an eagle Proper, each standing on a book Or.
|motto = Audentior <ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=1973}}</ref>}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|last = Addison|first = Paul| year = 1994| title = The Road to 1945| location = London| publisher = Pimlico| isbn = 978-0712659321}}
* {{Cite book|last=Brazier|first=Rodney|title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=978-0198859291}}
* {{cite book|last=Campbell|first=John|author-link = John Campbell (biographer)|year=2010|title=Pistols at Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political Rivalry from Pitt and Fox to Blair and Brown|publisher=Vintage|isbn=978-1-845-95091-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Cosgrave|first=Patrick| author-link = Patrick Cosgrave|year=1981| title = R.A.Butler: An English Life|publisher=Quartet Books|isbn=978-0704322585}}
* Dell, Edmund. ''The Chancellors: A History of the Chancellors of the Exchequer, 1945–90'' (HarperCollins, 1997) pp 159–206, covers his term as chancellor.
* [[Hennessy, Peter]]., ''Having It So Good: Britain In The Fifties'', Penguin Books, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-14-100409-9}}
* {{cite book|last = Horne|first = Alistair|author-link = Alistair Horne|year = 1989| title = Macmillan Volume II: 1957–1986|publisher = Macmillan|isbn = 978-0-333-49621-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Howard|first=Anthony|author-link=Anthony Howard (journalist)|title=RAB: The Life of R. A. Butler|publisher=Jonathan Cape|year=1987|isbn=978-0-224-01862-3}}
* {{Cite book|last=Jago|first=Michael|title=Rab Butler: The Best Prime Minister We Never Had?|publisher=Biteback Publishing|year=2015|isbn=978-1849549202}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Jeffereys|first=Kevin|title=R. A. Butler, the Board of Education and the 1944 Education Act|journal= History|year=1984|volume=69|issue=227|pages=415–431|doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.1984.tb01429.x|jstor=24419691}}
* {{cite book|author-last=Gilmour|author-first=Ian|editor-last = Matthew|editor-first = Colin|year = 2004| title = ''R.A Butler (1902-1982)'' in Dictionary of National Biography|volume = 9|publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0198614111}}
* Middleton, Nigel. "Lord Butler and the Education Act of 1944," ''British Journal of Educational Studies'' (1972) 20#2 pp 178–191
* Pearce, Edward ''The Lost Leaders'' (Little, Brown & Company 1997 {{ISBN|978-0316641784}}), (essays on Butler, Iain Macleod and [[Denis Healey]]), 
* {{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Andrew|year=1991|edition=2004|title=Holy Fox: Biography of Lord Halifax|publisher=Phoenix|isbn= 978-1-857-99472-8}} 
* {{cite journal|last=Rollings|first=Neil|title=Poor Mr Butskell: A Short Life, Wrecked by Schizophrenia?|journal=Twentieth Century British History|volume=5|issue=2|year=1994|pages=183–205|doi=10.1093/tcbh/5.2.183}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Stafford|first=Paul|title=Political Autobiography and the Art of the Plausible: RA Butler at the Foreign Office, 1938–1939|journal=Historical Journal|volume=28|issue=4|year=1985|pages=901–922|doi=10.1017/S0018246X00005124|jstor=2639327|s2cid=153663959 }}
* {{cite book|last = Thorpe|first = D. R.| author-link = D. R. Thorpe| year = 2010| title = Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan| location = London| publisher = Chatto & Windus| isbn = 978-1844135417}}

===Primary sources===
* {{cite book|last = Butler|first = Rab| year = 1971| title = The Art of the Possible| location = London| publisher = Hamish Hamilton| isbn = 978-0241020074}}, his autobiography
* {{cite book|last = Heath|first = Edward| author-link = Edward Heath| year = 1998| title = The Course of my Life: The Autobiography of Edward Heath| location = London| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton| isbn = 978-0340708521}}
* {{Cite book|last=Brazier|first=Rodney|title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2020|pages=70, 73, 75|ref=none}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://www.stanford.edu/group/auden/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I14005&ged=auden-bicknell.ged Richard Austen Butler – Personal Facts and Details stanford.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024031835/http://www.stanford.edu/group/auden/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I14005&ged=auden-bicknell.ged |date=24 October 2012 }}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-ra-butler | Rab Butler }}
* [http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=172 The Master of Trinity] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
* [http://www.saffronwaldenconservatives.com Saffron Walden Conservatives]
* {{UK National Archives ID|name=Butler, Richard Austen (1902–1982)}}
* [http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/modern/cpa/private/rab.html R.A. Butler papers in the Conservative Party Archive]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090322065504/http://thebutlertrust.org.uk/ The Butler Trust] – A charity set up, in memory of Butler, to promote and encourage positive regimes in UK prisons.

{{Navboxes
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|list1=
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Foot Mitchell|William Mitchell]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Saffron Walden (UK Parliament constituency)|Saffron Walden]]|years=[[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929]]–[[1965 Saffron Walden by-election|1965]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Peter Kirk (English politician)|Peter Kirk]]}}

{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian|The Marquess of Lothian]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Under-Secretary of State for India|Under Secretary of State for India]]|years=1932–1937}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley (died 1938)|The Lord Stanley]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Anthony Muirhead]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour]]|years=1937–1938}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alan Lennox-Boyd]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury|The Viscount Cranborne]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]]|years=1938–1941|alongside=[[Ivor Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth|The Earl of Plymouth]] {{small|(1938–1940)}}}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Richard Law, 1st Baron Coleraine|Richard Law]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Herwald Ramsbotham]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Education|President of the Board of Education]]|years=1941–1944}}
{{s-aft|after=Himself|as=Minister of Education}}

{{s-bef|before=Himself|as=President of the Board of Education}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Education|Minister of Education]]|years=1944–1945}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Richard Law, 1st Baron Coleraine|Richard Law]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Ernest Bevin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour and National Service]]|years=1945}}
{{s-aft|after=[[George Isaacs]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Oliver Stanley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]]|years=1950–1951}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hugh Gaitskell]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Hugh Gaitskell]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]|years=1951–1955}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Harold Macmillan]]}}

{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Harry Crookshank]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord Privy Seal]]|years=1955–1959}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|The Viscount Hailsham]]}}

{{s-ttl|title=[[Leader of the House of Commons]]|years=1955–1961}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Iain Macleod]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Gwilym Lloyd George]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Home Secretary]]|years=1957–1962}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor|Henry Brooke]]}}

{{s-vac|last=[[Anthony Eden]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]|years=1962–1963}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Willie Whitelaw]]}}

{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[First Secretary of State]]|years=1962–1963}}
{{s-vac|next=[[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Alec Douglas-Home]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]]|years=1963–1964}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Patrick Gordon-Walker]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Patrick Gordon-Walker]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Shadow Foreign Secretary]]|years=1964–1965}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Reginald Maudling]]}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[Tom Honeyman]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Rector of the University of Glasgow]]|years=1956–1959}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|The Viscount Hailsham]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|The Earl of Halifax]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chancellor of the [[University of Sheffield]]|years=1959–1977}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Frederick Dainton]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Edgar Adrian|The Lord Adrian]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Master of Trinity College, Cambridge]]|years=1965–1978}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alan Hodgkin]]}}

{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chancellor of the [[University of Essex]]|years=1966–1982}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Patrick Nairne]]}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|The Viscount Hailsham]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chairman of the Conservative Party]]|years=1959–1961}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Iain Macleod]]}}
{{s-end}}
}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Rab}}
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