Buggins' turn

Buggins' turn

Appointment or advancement based on a series of rotation (as due, for example, to seniority) rather than individual merit, qualification, or achievement. So called for the commonness and ubiquity of Buggins as a surname in Britain. Primarily heard in UK. Even though I work twice as hard as him, he's going to get the promotion because of Buggins' turn.
See also: turn
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Buggins's turn

appointment in rotation rather than by merit.
Buggins is used here to represent a typical or generic surname.
See also: turn
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • Buggins
  • Buggins's turn
  • up-and-comer
  • the old boy network
  • the old-boy network
  • network
  • old-boy network, the
  • pièce de résistance
  • the pièce de résistance
  • be light years away
References in periodicals archive
The key changes will be that the EU President who is currently chosen on the basis of Buggins' Turn could be elected by 300 million voters.
The contrast between the truly brave who earn their hero-worship and the worthies who get their gongs by Buggins' turn has never been clearer than today.
What I cannot accept is the present tendency towards "buggins' turn." A perpetual descent down the ladder, as one English manager after another rejects the job, or appears to.
While Tories are ruthlessly unsentimental by nature, Labour people seem more inclined to award the leadership on the basis of what used to be known as "Buggins' Turn".
How ironic if 'Buggins' turn' and political expediency, rather than merit, ended Birmingham's losing run.
Presumably, that means they prefer the system we have now whereby a time-serving councillor is appointed Lord Mayor by colleagues on the principle of Buggins' Turn.
I was appointed managing director of a moderately successful financial PR firm, on the sound old principle of Buggins' turn, and managed to make that success even more moderate by applying a management style that combined wheedling flattery, towering rages, sexual harassment and a total absence of inspiring leadership.
All of this is inevitable in a system that bestows the coveted chain and robes, and tidy expenses budget, on a Buggins' turn basis.
FOR donkey's years, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham has been chosen on the utterly reliable principle of Buggins' turn.