Oswald Mosley

British Union of Fascists Fascists and Nazis United Kingdom United Kingdom 1896–1980 ○ Natural causes

Conservative and then Labour MP who founded and led the British Union of Fascists

After serving in the First World War he entered the Commons as a Conservative in 1918, the youngest sitting MP. He sat as an independent, joined Labour in 1924 and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Labour government of 1929–1931, resigning in 1930 over unemployment policy. His New Party of 1931 became the British Union of Fascists in 1932. He openly espoused antisemitism and sought alliances with Mussolini and Hitler; his 1936 march through London’s East End was blocked by anti-fascists at the Battle of Cable Street. Interned in May 1940 when the BUF was banned, he was released in 1943 and after the war lived at Orsay near Paris, where he died in 1980.

Also known as: Oswald Ernald Mosley · Sir Oswald Mosley

Activities and affiliations