The Prawn Cocktail Offensive was the scornful name given to the British Labour Party's success (while in opposition in the 1990s) in winning trust and backing from the United Kingdom's financial sector.
[1] The Prawn Cocktail Offensive was executed under the Shadow Chancellorship of John Smith, who accompanied Mo Mowlam on an extensive series of private lunches and conferences with City figures.
The combination of this dish with the well-known political phrase "charm offensive" was a reference to the "lunching" involved in Smith and Mowlam's plans.
Believed to be a creation of journalists, the nickname sprang from remarks by senior Conservative politician Michael Heseltine, who in Parliament in February 1992 said:[3] I hear wherever I go that the right honourable and learned gentleman [John Smith] has become a star attraction in the City.
With all the authority I can command as Secretary of State for the Environment, let me say to the right honourable and learned member for Monklands East [Smith], "save the prawns".