THE FASCIST BARONET

See Also: THE APPEASERS & THEIR FATES; FASCISM; ROYALTY The Constitution, The Prime Minister and The Sovereign, The Marquis of Curzon

Sir Oswald Mosley was born the heir of a landowning family. During the First World War he served in the Royal Flying Corps. He was wounded and spent the final part of the conflict working in the Ministry of Munitions. This latter experience led him to become a strong advocate of the corporate state. In 1919 he was elected to the House of Commons as a Coalition Unionist, espousing a policy of socialistic imperialism . His charisma, handsome looks, and loquaciousness soon made him a rising political celebrity. However, people who encountered the man in person frequently took a dislike to him. He became frustrated with the failure of the Conservative-led coalition. Therefore, he joined the Labour Party.

In 1920 Mosley married Cynthia Cimmie Curzon, a daughter of the 1st Marquis Curzon. He was to go on to bed two of her sisters, as well as their stepmother.

In 1929 a minority Labour government was formed. Mosley was appointed to be the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He advocated reflation and a programme of public works. Within the government, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden outmanoeuvred him. This caused the baronet to resign from the party.

Mosley founded the New Party in 1931. Initially, this organisation had a high level of attraction because its lack of a true agenda left people free to project their own aspirations on to it. Prior to its fascistic character emerging, the public figures who flirted with it included: the union leader Nye Bevan, the economist John Maynard Keynes, the Conservative politician Harold Macmillan, the literary figure Harold Nicolson, the head of the B.B.C. Lord Reith, the playwright George Bernard Shaw, and the novelist H.G. Wells. At first, the movement was funded covertly by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. However, the latter came to regard the baronet as being a poor investment and so withdrew his financial support.

In 1933 Mosley's British Union of Fascists acquired the lease of the former Whitelands Teacher Training College building in Chelsea. The organisation turned it into its headquarters. The edifice became known as The Black House since the party's members were known as the Black Shirts.¹ The Union's membership peaked at 50,000 people.

A rally was held at the Olympia exhibition hall in June 1934. This ended in orchestrated violence. Subsequently, Viscount Rothermere, the owner of The Daily Mail newspaper, withdrew his advocacy from Mosley. The party lost much of the passive support that it had been enjoying from the more right-wing sections of British political society. The running costs of The Black House turned it into a financial liability. Its lease was sold on.²

The financial shortfall caused by Mussolini's withdrawal had been made good by Adolf Hitler. This connection was aided by Mosley having married Diana Mitford as his second wife in 1936. Her sister Unity was a member of the German dictator's social circle. The change in funding was marked by Mosley becoming increasingly anti-Semitic in his public pronouncements. In Britain this had the effect of marginalising his party still further.

In October 1936 Mosley tried to achieve a propaganda coup by having his supporters march through the East End, which had a substantial Jewish population. The locals prepared to meet the Fascists. The Battle of Cable Street was fought. The East Enders emerged victorious. The government responded to the episode by passing the Public Order Act. The measure banned the wearing of military-style uniforms.

During the Second World War Mosley was interned. In 1943 he was released on medical grounds. Following the re-establishment of peace he again became politically active. In 1966 he stood for election to Parliament for Shoreditch & Finsbury. He secured 1127 votes and never contested another seat.

Location: Cable Street, E1 8JG (purple, turquoise)

Olympia, Hammersmith Road, W14 8UX (orange, purple)

Whitelands House, Cheltenham Terrace, SW3 4QY (red, yellow)

¹. Arnold Leese of the Imperial Fascist League viewed Mosley as a moderate, terming him a kosher fascist. Sir Oswald responded in kind by describing Leese and his associates as pygmies posing in the jackboots of dead giants.

². Subsequently, the building was demolished.

David Backhouse 2024