BATTLEBUS NOUN (POLITICS)

A bus used as a mobile centre of operations by a politician during an election campaign. Etymology: Formed by compounding: a bus in which one goes into battle, figuratively speaking. History and Usage: The battlebus was a feature of the British general election campaign fought by the Liberal-SDP Alliance in 1983; the buses even bore the name battlebus on their sides. By the time of the next general election in 1987, the battlebus had become an established feature of election campaigning and was used by other parties as well. She said the message to Mrs Thatcher from the by-election was loud and clear: 'It's time to go.' Then, taking her own advice, she zoomed off in the Sylvia Heal Battlebus for a lightning victory lap around the constituency. Financial Times 24 Mar. 1990, p. 1