Building societies laid claim to being "the third way" between old nationalised industries and public companies, at the Labour party conference last week.
Building Societies Association chairman John Heaps, who was speaking at Blackpool, claimed that member-owned mutuals were in line with Labour's vision of partnership and co-operation.
In an attempt to emulate the Labour party's success at reinventing itself for the future, Building Societies Association chairman John Heaps coined the term New Mutualism for the building society movement.
Heaps said: "Rather like the Labour Party itself, over the past few years building societies have reinvented themselves, and at the same time, redefined their reason for existence."
