Oswald Mosley | |
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Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
In office 7 June 1929 – 19 May 1930 | |
Prime Minister | Ramsay MacDonald |
Preceded by | Ronald McNeill |
Succeeded by | Clement Attlee |
Member of Parliament for Smethwick | |
In office 21 December 1926 – 7 October 1931 | |
Preceded by | John Davison |
Succeeded by | Roy Wise |
Member of Parliament for Harrow | |
In office 14 December 1918 – 9 October 1924 | |
Preceded by | Harry Mallaby-Deeley |
Succeeded by | Sir Isidore Salmon |
Personal details | |
Born | Oswald Ernald Mosley 16 November 1896 Mayfair, London, England |
Died | 3 December 1980 Orsay, Essonne, France | (aged 84)
Political party | British Union of Fascists (1932–1940) |
Other political affiliations |
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Spouses | |
Children |
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Parent | Sir Oswald Mosley, 5th Baronet |
Education | Winchester College |
Alma mater | Royal Military College, Sandhurst |
Military service | |
Allegiance | British Empire |
Branch/service | British Army |
Years of service | 1914–1918 |
Rank | Lieutenant |
Battles/wars | First World War |
Awards | |
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. Mosley was the son of a baronet. He was a member of parliament and later founded and led the British Union of Fascists (BUF).[1][2][3]
After military service during the First World War, Mosley was one of the youngest members of parliament, representing Harrow from 1918 to 1924, first as a Conservative, then an independent, before joining the Labour Party. At the 1924 general election he stood in Birmingham Ladywood against the future prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, coming within 100 votes of defeating him. Mosley returned to parliament as Labour MP for Smethwick at a by-election in 1926 and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Labour government of 1929–1931. In 1928, he succeeded his father as the sixth Mosley baronet, a title that had been in his family for more than a century.[4] Some considered Mosley a rising star and possible future prime minister.[5] Mosley resigned in 1930 because of discord with the government's unemployment policies. He chose not to defend his Smethwick constituency at the 1931 general election, instead unsuccessfully standing in Stoke-on-Trent.
Mosley's New Party became the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932. As leader, he publicly espoused antisemitism and sought alliances with other fascist leaders such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Fascist violence under Mosley's leadership culminated in the 1936 Battle of Cable Street, during which anti-fascist demonstrators including trade unionists, liberals, socialists, communists, anarchists, and British Jews prevented the BUF from marching through London's East End. Mosley subsequently held a series of rallies around London, and the BUF increased its membership there.[6][7]
Mosley was imprisoned in May 1940, after the outbreak of the Second World War, and the BUF was banned. He was released in 1943 and, politically disgraced by his association with fascism, moved abroad in 1951, spending most of the remainder of his life in Paris and two residences in Ireland. He stood for Parliament during the post-war era but received very little support. During this period he was an advocate of Pan-European nationalism, developing the Europe a Nation ideology,[8] and was an early proponent of Holocaust denial conspiracy theories.[9][10]
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