LEADERENE NOUN (POLITICS)

In the UK, a female leader. Etymology: Formed by adding to leader the otherwise unknown suffix -ene, possibly under the influence of the French feminine suffix -ine as used in the very similar Franglais word speakerine (for a female TV presenter), a word which caused heated discussion among French purists during the sixties and seventies. (Franglais also boasts le leader and le leadership among its political borrowings, but not leaderine.) History and Usage: The word was coined by Norman St John Stevas, then MP for Chelmsford, as a humorous nickname for Margaret Thatcher when she was Leader of the Opposition in the late seventies. The nickname proved very successful and continued to be used of her, usually with a capital initial, throughout her period as Prime Minister (1979-90); it was a particular favourite of the satirical paper Private Eye. The usage also spread beyond its original limited context, and by the mid eighties was often used as a humorous word for any female leader, especially if she shared some characteristic with Mrs Thatcher. It will be interesting to see whether this extended use survives the end of Mrs Thatcher's leadership career. The British security services seem to be the out-and-out villains under their new leaderene, a Thatcher-like figure of absurd proportions. Listener 26 Apr. 1984, p. 33 In Finchley Central, part of the glorious leaderene's own constituency, there is only one policeman on patrol during the wee small hours. Private Eye 29 May 1987, p. 8