The David Butler Archive - Nuffield College Oxford University

About Sir David Butler
Guide to Butler papers
The biography - by Michael Crick
Psephology
1947-8 diary
1955-6 diary
Bibliography

Welcome to the David Butler Archive hosted by Nuffield College. It provides an overview of the life and work of Sir David Butler (1924-2022), whose papers are deposited at Nuffield College and in the Bodleian Library.

A pioneer of election studies, Sir David’s career spanned the 1940s to the 2010s and includes the introduction of 'swing' and the 'swingometer' to elections, the advent of broadcasting TV election coverage, and popularising the term 'psephology'. The author or co-author of several dozen books, he was a noted authority on elections in Britain, America, Australia and India.

Photograph of David Butler by Jane Bown. Reproduced items, unless otherwise stated, are from David's private collection of papers, with permission granted to reproduce on this website.