Editing British Union of Fascists

{{Short description|1932–1940 political party}}
{{Pp-pc}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox political party
| logo_size        = 130
| colorcode        = #000080
| name             = British Union of Fascists
| logo             = Flash and circle.svg
| abbreviation     = BUF
| leader           = [[Oswald Mosley]]
| founded          = 1 October 1932
| banned           = [[Treachery Act 1940|10 July 1940]]<ref name=SDI>{{cite book |first=Martin |last=Ceadel |title=Semi-detached Idealists: The British Peace Movement and International Relations, 1854–1945 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2000 |page=404}}</ref><ref name=AS/>
| merger           = {{ubli|[[New Party (UK)|New Party]]|[[British Fascists]] (majority)}}
| successor        = [[Union Movement]]
| headquarters     = [[London]], England<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=David Stephen |title=Illusions of Grandeur: Mosley, Fascism, and British Society, 1931–81 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |location=Manchester / Wolfeboro, New Hampshire |date=1987 |page=68}}</ref>
| newspaper        = {{ubli|''[[The Blackshirt]]''|''[[Action (newspaper)|Action]]''}}
| wing2_title      = {{nowrap|Paramilitary wings}}
| wing2            = [[Stewards (paramilitary organization)|Stewards-Blackshirts]], [[Fascist Defence Force|FDF]]<ref>{{cite book |first=Martin |last=Pugh |title=Hurrah For The Blackshirts!: Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars |pages=133–135 |publisher=Random House}}</ref>
| wing1_title      = [[Think tank]]
| wing1            = [[January Club]]<ref>Stephen Dorril, ''Blackshirt'' (2006), p.258.</ref>
| membership       = Maximum 40,000 (1934 estimate)<ref>{{cite journal |title=Patterns of Membership and Support for the British Union of Fascists |last=Webber |first=G. C. |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |year=1984 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=575–606 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002200948401900401 |doi=10.1177/002200948401900401 |jstor=260327 |s2cid=159618633 |archive-date=9 April 2024 |access-date=9 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409090900/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002200948401900401 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| ideology         = [[British fascism]]<ref name="fascism">{{cite web |title=fascism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2025-04-20}}</ref>
* [[Monarchism]]{{refn|<ref name="DSL">{{cite book |first=David Stephen |last=Lewis |year=1987 |title=Illusions of Grandeur: Mosley, Fascism, and British Society, 1931–81 |page=51}}</ref><ref name="Mosley FAQ 1">Oswald Mosley. ''Fascism: 100 Questions Asked and Answered''. Question 1</ref>}}
* [[British nationalism]]{{refn|<ref name="DSL"/><ref name="Mosley FAQ 1"/>}}
* [[National syndicalism]]<ref>{{cite book |date=1953 |title=A Workers' Policy Through Syndicalism |publisher=[[Union Movement]] |isbn=9781899435265}}</ref>
* [[Corporate statism]]{{refn|<ref>Oswald Mosley. ''Fascism: 100 Questions Asked and Answered''. "10 points of Fascism: V. The Corporate State"</ref><ref>Roger Griffin. ''Fascism, Totalitarianism And Political Religion''. Oxfordshire, England, UK; New York, New York, USA: Routledge, 2005. p. 110.</ref>}}
* {{nowrap|[[Non-interventionism]]<ref>Oswald Mosley. ''Fascism: 100 Questions Asked and Answered''. Question 88</ref>}}
* [[Antisemitism in the United Kingdom|Antisemitism]]{{refn|<ref>W. F. Mandle, ''Anti-Semitism and the British Union of Fascists''</ref><ref>Robert Benewick, ''The Fascist Movement in Britain'', pp. 132–134</ref><ref>Alan S. Millward, "Fascism and the Economy", in Walter Laqueur (ed.), ''Fascism: A reader's Guide'', p. 450</ref><ref>Nigel Copsey, ''Anti-Fascism in Britain'', pp. 38, 40–41.</ref><ref>Richard Thurlow (2006). ''Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918–1945''. Revised paperback ed. I. B. Taurus & Co. Ltd. p. 28.</ref>}}
| position         = [[List of British far-right groups (1945–present)|Far-right]]
| colours          = {{ubl|{{nowrap|{{Color box|#CE2029|border=darkgray}} Red {{Color box|#FFFFFF|border=darkgray}} White {{Color box|#000080|border=darkgray}} Blue}}|{{Color box|#000000|border=darkgray}} Black (customary)}}
| religion         = [[Protestantism]] and [[Secularism]]<ref>David Stephen Lewis (1987). ''Illusions of Grandeur: Mosley, Fascism, and British Society, 1931-81''. p. 51.</ref>
| anthem           = {{nowrap|"[[Horst-Wessel-Lied#British Union of Fascists|Comrades, the Voices]]"<ref>{{cite book |last=Grundy |first=Trevor |date=1998 |title=Memoir of a Fascist Childhood: A Boy in Mosley's Britain |publisher=William Heinemann |pages=31–33 |isbn=0434004677}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Salvador |first1=Alessandro |last2=Kjøstvedt |first2=Anders G. |date=2017 |title=New Political Ideas in the Aftermath of the Great War |location=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |pages=165–166 |isbn=978-3-319-38914-1}}</ref>}}
| flag             = [[File:Flag of the British Union of Fascists.svg|175px|border]]{{collapsible list|title=Other flags:|[[File:Flag of the British Union of Fascists (original).svg|175px|centre]] {{centre|(1932–1933)}}|[[File:Flag of the British Union of Fascists (alternate).svg|175px|centre]] {{centre|(1933–1935)}}}}
| country          = the United Kingdom
}}

The '''British Union of Fascists''' ('''BUF''') was a [[British fascism|British fascist]] [[political party]] formed in 1932 by [[Oswald Mosley]]. Mosley changed its name to the '''British Union of Fascists and National Socialists''' in 1936 and, in 1937, to the '''British Union'''. In 1939, following the start of the [[Second World War]], the party was [[proscribed]] by the British government and in 1940 it was disbanded.

The BUF emerged in 1932 from the electoral defeat of its antecedent, the [[New Party (UK)|New Party]], in the [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931 general election]]. The BUF's foundation was initially met with popular support, and it attracted a sizeable following, with the party claiming 50,000 members at one point. The press baron [[Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere|Lord Rothermere]] was a notable early supporter. As the party became increasingly radical, however, support declined. The [[Olympia, London|Olympia]] Rally of 1934, in which a number of [[anti-fascist]] protestors were attacked by the paramilitary wing of the BUF, the [[Fascist Defence Force]], isolated the party from much of its following. The party's embrace of [[Nazi]]-style [[antisemitism]] in 1936 led to increasingly violent confrontations with anti-fascists, notably the 1936 [[Battle of Cable Street]] in London's [[East End]]. The [[Public Order Act 1936]], which banned [[political uniform]]s and responded to increasing political violence, had a particularly strong effect on the BUF whose supporters were known as "Blackshirts" after the uniforms they wore.

Growing British hostility towards [[Nazi Germany]], with which the British press persistently associated the BUF, further contributed to the decline of the movement's membership. The party was finally banned by the British government on 23 May 1940 after the start of the Second World War, amid suspicion that its remaining supporters might form a pro-Nazi "[[fifth column]]". A number of prominent BUF members were arrested and interned under [[Defence Regulation 18B]].

==History==
===Background===
[[File:History of British fascist political groups.svg|thumb|295x295px|Flowchart showing the history of the early British fascist movement]]
[[Oswald Mosley]] was the youngest elected [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP before [[crossing the floor]] in 1922, joining first [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] and, shortly afterward, the [[Independent Labour Party]]. He became [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]] in [[Ramsay MacDonald]]'s [[Second MacDonald Ministry|Labour government]], advising on rising unemployment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1930-11-04/debates/03005d1c-b6cc-41d5-8f84-2af22811babd/ChancellorOfTheDuchyOfLancaster|title=Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster - Hansard - UK Parliament|access-date=30 June 2020|archive-date=3 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703084808/https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1930-11-04/debates/03005d1c-b6cc-41d5-8f84-2af22811babd/ChancellorOfTheDuchyOfLancaster|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1930, Mosley issued his Mosley Memorandum, which fused [[protectionism]] with a proto-[[Keynesian]] programme of policies designed to tackle the problem of unemployment, and he resigned from the Labour Party soon after, in early 1931, when the plans were rejected. He immediately formed the [[New Party (UK)|New Party]], with policies based on his memorandum. The party won 16% of the vote at a by-election in [[Ashton-under-Lyne (UK Parliament constituency)|Ashton-under-Lyne]] in early 1931; however, it failed to achieve any other electoral success.<ref>{{cite book |last=Powell |first=David |date=2004 |title=British Politics,1910-35 - The Crisis of the Party System |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ch22p6goYYkC&q=BUF+50,000+members&pg=PA181 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415351065}}</ref>

During 1931, the New Party became increasingly influenced by [[fascism]].<ref name="Britaininthe1930s"/> The following year, after a January 1932 visit to [[Benito Mussolini]] in [[Italy]], Mosley's own conversion to fascism was confirmed. He wound up the New Party in April, but preserved its youth movement, which would form the core of the BUF, intact. He spent the summer that year writing a fascist programme, ''The Greater Britain'', and this formed the basis of policy of the BUF, which was launched on 1 October 1932<ref name="Britaininthe1930s">Thorpe, Andrew. (1995) ''Britain In The 1930s'', Blackwell Publishers, {{ISBN|0-631-17411-7}}</ref> at 12 [[Great George Street]] in London.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dorril |first=Stephen |url=http://archive.org/details/blackshirtsirosw0000dorr |title=Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism |publisher=Viking |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-670-86999-2 |pages=216}}</ref>

===Early success and growth===
[[File:Olympia Exhibition Centre - geograph.org.uk - 908621.jpg|thumb|The [[Olympia Exhibition Centre]] in [[London]], site of the party's 1934 rally sometimes cited as the beginning of the movement's decline]]
[[File:Oswald Mosley and Benito Mussolini 1936.jpg|thumb|Italy's ''[[Duce]]'' [[Benito Mussolini]] (left) with BUF leader [[Oswald Mosley]] (right) during Mosley's visit to Italy in April 1933]]
The BUF claimed 50,000 members at one point,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Andrzej Olechnowicz |title=Liberal Anti-Fascism in the 1930s: The Case of Sir Ernest Barker |journal=Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies |volume=36 |number=4 |date=Winter 2004 |page=643}}</ref> and the ''[[Daily Mail]]'', running the headline "Hurrah for the Blackshirts!", was an early supporter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://voiceoftheturtle.org/dictionary/dict_h1.php |title=The Voice of the Turtle |date=20 December 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021220165318/http://voiceoftheturtle.org/dictionary/dict_h1.php |archive-date=20 December 2002}}</ref> The first Director of Propaganda, appointed in February 1933, was [[Wilfred Risdon]], who was responsible for organising all of Mosley's public meetings. Despite strong resistance from anti-fascists, including the local [[British Jews|Jewish community]], the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], the [[Independent Labour Party]] and the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]], the BUF found a following in the [[East End of London]], where in the [[London County Council]] elections of March 1937, it obtained reasonably successful results in [[Bethnal Green]], [[Shoreditch]] and [[Limehouse]], polling almost 8,000 votes, although none of its candidates was elected.<ref>R. Benewick, ''Political Violence and Public Order'', London: Allen Lane, 1969, pp. 279-282</ref> The BUF did elect a few councillors at local government level during the 1930s (including Charles Bentinck Budd ([[Worthing]], [[Sussex]]), 1934; Ronald Creasy ([[Eye, Suffolk]]), 1938) but did not win any parliamentary seats.<ref>Bartlett, Roger ''Comrade'' Newsletter of the [[Friends of Oswald Mosley]], ''When Mosley Men Won Elections'' (November 2014)</ref><ref>''Blackshirts on-Sea: A Pictorial History of the Mosley Summer Camps 1933-1939'' J. A. Booker (Brockingday Publications 1999)</ref><ref>''Storm Tide - Worthing: Prelude to War 1933-1939'' Michael Payne (Verite CM Ltd 2008)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.shorehamherald.co.uk/lifestyle/the-notorious-charles-bentinck-budd-and-the-british-union-of-fascists-1-6274383|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170131131603/http://www.shorehamherald.co.uk/lifestyle/the-notorious-charles-bentinck-budd-and-the-british-union-of-fascists-1-6274383|archive-date = 31 January 2017|title = The notorious Charles Bentinck Budd and the British Union of Fascists |work=Shoreham Herald}}</ref> Two former members of the BUF, Major Sir [[Jocelyn Lucas]] and [[Harold Soref]], were later elected as [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Members of Parliament]] (MPs).<ref>"When Mosley Men Won Elections", ''Comrade'' (newsletter of the Friends of Oswald Mosley), November 2014</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishsocialist.org.uk/reviews/item/the-man-who-might-have-been|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926142058/http://www.jewishsocialist.org.uk/reviews/item/the-man-who-might-have-been|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 September 2015|title = BOOK REVIEW the Man Who Might Have Been |publisher=Jewish Socialists' Group}}</ref>

Having lost the funding of newspaper magnate [[Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere|Lord Rothermere]], that it had previously enjoyed, at the 1935 general election the party urged voters to abstain, calling for "Fascism Next Time".<ref>[http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/features/century/cbf.php?include=page3 1932-1938 Fascism rises—March of the Blackshirts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003002905/http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/features/century/cbf.php?include=page3 |date=3 October 2008}}</ref> There never was a "next time" as the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|next general election]] was not held until July 1945, five years after the dissolution of the BUF.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}

Towards the middle of the 1930s, the BUF's violent clashes with opponents began to alienate some [[middle-class]] supporters, and membership decreased. At the Olympia rally in London, in 1934, [[Fascist Defence Force|BUF stewards]] violently ejected anti-fascist disrupters, and this led the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' to withdraw its support for the movement. The level of violence shown at the rally shocked many, with the effect of turning neutral parties against the BUF and contributing to anti-fascist support. One observer claimed: "I came to the conclusion that Mosley was a political maniac, and that all decent English people must combine to kill his movement."<ref>Lloyd, G., ''Yorkshire Post'', 9 June 1934.</ref>

In Belfast in April 1934 an autonomous wing of the party in [[Northern Ireland]] called the "Ulster Fascists" was founded. The branch was a failure and became virtually extinct after less than a year in existence.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=4051595 |title=The Swastika and the Shamrock: British Fascism and the Irish Question, 1918-1940 |journal=Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=57–75 |last=Douglas |first=R.M. |year=1997 |doi=10.2307/4051595}}</ref> It had ties with the [[Blueshirts]] in the [[Irish Free State]] and voiced support for a [[United Ireland]], describing the [[partition of Ireland]] as "an insurmountable barrier to peace, and prosperity in Ireland".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/july-17th-1934-1.537920 |title=July 17th, 1934 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |author=Joe Joyce |date=17 July 2012}}</ref> Its logo combined the [[fasces]] with the [[Red Hand of Ulster]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Loughlin |first=James |title=Northern Ireland and British fascism in the inter-war years |journal=Irish Historical Studies |date=November 1995 |volume=29 |issue=116 |pages=537–552 |doi=10.1017/S002112140001227X}}</ref>

===Decline and legacy===
The BUF became more [[antisemitic]] over 1934–35 owing to the growing influence of Nazi sympathisers within the party, such as [[William Joyce]] and [[John Beckett (politician)|John Beckett]], which provoked the resignation of members such as [[Robert Forgan]]. This antisemitic emphasis and these high-profile resignations resulted in a significant decline in membership, dropping to below 8,000 by the end of 1935, and, ultimately, Mosley shifted the party's focus back to mainstream politics. There were frequent and continuous violent clashes between BUF party members and [[anti-fascist]] protesters, most famously at the [[Battle of Cable Street]] in October 1936, when organised anti-fascists prevented the BUF from marching through Cable Street. However, the party later staged other marches through the East End without incident, albeit not on Cable Street itself.

BUF support for [[Edward VIII]] and the peace campaign to prevent a second [[World War II|World War]] saw membership and public support rise once more.<ref name="thurlow94">Richard C. Thurlow. ''Fascism in Britain: from Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts to the National Front''. 2nd edition. New York, New York, USA: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2006. p. 94.</ref> The government was sufficiently concerned by the party's growing prominence to pass the [[Public Order Act 1936]], which banned [[political uniform]]s and required police consent for political marches.

In 1937, William Joyce and other Nazi sympathisers split from the party to form the [[National Socialist League]], which quickly folded, with most of its members [[interned]]. Mosley later denounced Joyce as a traitor and condemned him for his extreme antisemitism. The historian [[Stephen Dorril]] revealed in his book ''Blackshirts'' that secret envoys from the Nazis had donated about £50,000 to the BUF.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fenton|first1=Ben|title=Oswald Mosley 'was a financial crook bankrolled by Nazis'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1513465/Oswald-Mosley-was-a-financial-crook-bankrolled-by-Nazis.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1513465/Oswald-Mosley-was-a-financial-crook-bankrolled-by-Nazis.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=Daily Telegraph|date=20 March 2006 |access-date=16 July 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

By 1939, total BUF membership had declined to just 20,000.<ref name="thurlow94"/> On 23 May 1940, Mosley and some 740&nbsp;other party members were interned under [[Defence Regulation 18B]]. The BUF then called on its followers to resist invasion, but it was declared unlawful on 10 July 1940 and ceased its activities.<ref name=SDI/><ref name=AS>{{cite book |author=Andrew Sangster |title=An Analytical Diary of 1939-1940: The Twelve Months that Changed the World |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |date=2017 |url=  https://books.google.com/books?id=MVvXDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA276 |page=276|isbn=9781443891608 }}</ref>

After the war, Mosley made several unsuccessful attempts to return to political life, one such being through the [[Union Movement]], but he had no successes.

==Relationship with the suffragettes==
Attracted by "modern" fascist policies, such as ending the widespread practice of sacking women from their jobs on marriage, many women joined the Blackshirts – particularly in economically depressed Lancashire. Eventually women constituted one-quarter of the BUF's membership.<ref>Nigel Jones, ''Mosley'', Haus Publishing (2004) {{ISBN|9781904341093}}, p. 86: "Eventually women, under the titular leadership of ‘Ma Mosley’ – Lady Maud, ably seconded by an ex-suffragette, Mary Richardson – constituted one-quarter of the BUF's membership, and Mosley himself later acknowledged the part they played: "My movement has been largely built up by the fanaticism of women: they hold ideas with tremendous passion. Without the women I could not have got one-quarter of the way."</ref>

In a January 2010 BBC documentary, ''Mother Was A Blackshirt'', James Maw reported that in 1914 [[Norah Elam]] was placed in a [[Holloway Prison]] cell with [[Emmeline Pankhurst]] for her involvement with the [[suffragette]] movement, and, in 1940, she was returned to the same prison with [[Diana Mosley]], this time for her involvement with the fascist movement. Another leading suffragette, [[Mary Richardson]], became head of the women's section of the BUF.

[[Mary Sophia Allen]] OBE was a former branch leader of the West of England Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). At the outbreak of the First World War, she joined the [[Women Police Volunteers]], becoming the WPV Commandant in 1920. She met Mosley at the January Club in April 1932, going on to speak at the club following her visit to Germany, "to learn the truth about of the position of German womanhood".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Lady Blackshirts. The Perils of Perception - suffragettes who became fascists|last=Caldicott|first=Rosemary|publisher=Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #39|year=2017|isbn=978-1911522393}}</ref>

The BBC report described how Elam's fascist philosophy grew from her suffragette experiences, how the British fascist movement became largely driven by women, how they targeted young women from an early age, how the first British fascist movement was founded by a woman, and how the leading lights of the suffragettes had, with [[Oswald Mosley]], founded the BUF.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pk7zp/Mother_Was_A_Blackshirt/?from=r&id=35227e69-fcbf-45d7-8295-2c78e9703b74.0 |title=BBC Radio 4 - Mother Was A Blackshirt |publisher=BBC|website=Bbc.co.uk |date=4 January 2010 |access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref>

Mosley's electoral strategy had been to prepare for the election after 1935, and in 1936 he announced a list of BUF candidates for that election, with Elam nominated to stand for Northampton. Mosley accompanied Elam to Northampton to introduce her to her electorate at a meeting in the Town Hall. At that meeting Mosley announced that "he was glad indeed to have the opportunity of introducing the first candidate, and ... [thereby] killed for all time the suggestion that National Socialism proposed putting British women back into the home; this is simply not true. Mrs Elam [he went on] had fought in the past for women's suffrage ... and was a great example of the emancipation of women in Britain."<ref name="McPherson & McPherson">{{cite book| last =McPherson| first =Angela| author2 =McPherson, Susan| title =Mosley's Old Suffragette - A Biography of Norah Elam| year =2011| publisher =Lulu.com| url =http://www.oldsuffragette.co.uk| isbn =978-1-4466-9967-6| url-status=dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120113154415/http://www.oldsuffragette.co.uk/| archive-date =13 January 2012| df =dmy-all}}</ref>

Former suffragettes were drawn to the BUF for a variety of reasons. Many felt the movement's energy reminded them of the suffragettes, while others felt the BUF's economic policies would offer them true equality – unlike its continental counterparts, the movement insisted it would not require women to return to domesticity and that the [[corporatist]] state would ensure adequate representation for housewives, while it would also guarantee equal wages for women and remove the marriage bar that restricted the employment of married women. The BUF also offered support for new mothers (due to concerns of falling birth rates), while also offering effective birth control, as Mosley believed it was not in the national interest to have a populace ignorant of modern scientific knowledge. While these policies were motivated more out of making the best use of women's skills in state interest than any kind of [[feminism]], it was still a draw for many suffragettes.<ref>Martin Pugh, [https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/04/why-the-british-union-fascist-movement-appealed-to-so-many-women.html "Why the Former Suffragettes Flocked to British Fascism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324184731/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/04/why-the-british-union-fascist-movement-appealed-to-so-many-women.html |date=24 March 2019 }}, ''Slate'', 14 April 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2019.</ref>

==Prominent members and supporters==
{{More citations needed section|reason=large number of entries without direct citations|date=January 2024}}
Despite the short period of its operation the BUF attracted prominent members and supporters. These included:
* [[Mary Sophia Allen]] was a suffragette.
* [[William Edward David Allen]] was previously [[Unionists (Ireland)|Unionist]] Member of Parliament for [[Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)|Belfast West]].<ref>Arthur Green, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50331 "Allen, William Edward David (1901–1973)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924155814/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50331 |date=24 September 2015 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2004; online ed., January 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref> Material in the National Archive shows that Allen acted as an MI5 agent within the BUF.<ref>The National Archive (1942), KV 3/35 14. British Union evidence of support from Italy.</ref>{{Request quotation|date=September 2022}}
* [[John Beckett (politician)|John Beckett]] was previously [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] Member of Parliament for [[Peckham (UK Parliament constituency)|Peckham]].<ref>{{cite book |title=British Fascism, 1918–39: Parties, Ideology and Culture |first=Thomas |last=Linehan |page=139 |quote=while Beckett was a one-time Labour MP for Gateshead (1924–29) and Peckham (1929–31)}}</ref>
* [[Frank Bossard]] was an officer in the RAF and, after the war, a Soviet spy.<ref>[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/soviet-spy-who-had-his-eye-on-belfast-28145324.html "Soviet spy who had his eye on Belfast"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223043359/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/soviet-spy-who-had-his-eye-on-belfast-28145324.html |date=23 February 2014 }}, ''Belfast Telegraph'', 24 May 2003</ref><ref>Eric Waugh, ''With Wings as Eagles''</ref>
* [[Patrick Boyle, 8th Earl of Glasgow]] was a member of the House of Lords.
* [[Malcolm Campbell]] was a racing motorist and motoring journalist.<ref name=ODNB/>
* [[A. K. Chesterton]] was a journalist.<ref>David Renton, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/40136 "Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall (1910–1986)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005132204/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/40136 |date=5 October 2015 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref>
* [[Lady Cynthia Curzon]] (known as 'Cimmie') was the second daughter of [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|George Curzon, Lord Curzon of Kedleston]], and the wife of Oswald Mosley until her death in 1933.
* [[Norah Elam]] was a suffragette.
* [[Robert Forgan]] was previously [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] Member of Parliament for [[West Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)|West Renfrewshire]].<ref name="ODNB">Julie V. Gottlieb, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/96364?backToResults=%2Fsearch%2Frefine%2F%3FdocStart=1%26themesTabShow=true "British Union of Fascists (act. 1932–1940)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306024650/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/96364?backToResults=%2Fsearch%2Frefine%2F%3FdocStart=1%26themesTabShow=true |date=6 March 2016 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref>
* [[Major-General (United Kingdom)|Major General]] [[John Frederick Charles Fuller]] was a military historian and strategist.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>Brian Holden Reid, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33290?docPos=1 "Fuller, John Frederick Charles (1878–1966)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref>
* [[Billy Fullerton]] was leader of the [[Billy Boys]] gang from Glasgow.<ref>[http://www.irishnews.com/news/2015/11/06/news/-billy-boys-link-to-the-ku-klux-klan-316246/ "'Billy Boys' link to the Ku Klux Klan"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220122823/http://www.irishnews.com/news/2015/11/06/news/-billy-boys-link-to-the-ku-klux-klan-316246/ |date=20 December 2016 }}, ''The Irish News'', 6 November 2015</ref>
* [[Arthur Gilligan]] was the captain of [[the England cricket team]].
* [[Reginald Goodall]] was an English [[conducting|conductor]].<ref>John Tooley, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39906 "Goodall, Sir Reginald (1901–1990)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed., January 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref>
* [[Group Captain]] [[Louis Greig]] was a British [[naval surgeon]], courtier and intimate of King [[George VI]].<ref name=GDL/><ref name=Griffiths/>
* [[Jeffrey Hamm]] was a prominent member and later Mosley's personal secretary.
* [[Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere]], was the owner of the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' and a member of the House of Lords.<ref>D. George Boyce, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33718?docPos=1 "Harmsworth, Harold Sidney, first Viscount Rothermere (1868–1940)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref>
* [[Neil Francis Hawkins]] was leader of the Blackshirts.<ref name=ODNB/>
* [[Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll]], was a member of the [[House of Lords]].<ref>Richard Davenport-Hines, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39437?docPos=1 "Hay, Josslyn Victor, twenty-second earl of Erroll (1901–1941)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed., January 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref>
* [[William Joyce]], later nicknamed 'Lord Haw-Haw', became naturalized as a German citizen and broadcast pro-Nazi propaganda from German territory.<ref name=ODNB/>
* [[Ted "Kid" Lewis]] was a Jewish boxing champion; he left the party after it became overtly antisemitic.<ref>{{cite web |author=Charlie Pottins |title=BOOK REVIEW The Man Who Might Have Been |url=http://www.jewishsocialist.org.uk/reviews/item/the-man-who-might-have-been |work=Jewish Socialist |date=Spring 2007 |access-date=24 December 2019 |archive-date=26 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926142058/http://www.jewishsocialist.org.uk/reviews/item/the-man-who-might-have-been |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale]], was a member of the House of Lords. His wife, Lady Redesdale, and two of his daughters were also members:
** [[Diana Mitford]] (Lady Mosley, after her marriage to Sir Oswald Mosley in 1936)
** [[Unity Mitford]] was an associate of Hitler.
* [[Tommy Moran]] was a BUF leader in Derby and later south Wales.
* [[Mary Richardson]] was a suffragette and head of the BUF's women's section.
* Sir [[Alliott Verdon Roe]] was a pilot and businessman.<ref name=ODNB/>
* [[Edward Frederick Langley Russell, 2nd Baron Russell of Liverpool]], was a member of the House of Lords.<ref name="GDL">''[http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyeve23.htm Resistance to fascism]'', Glasgow Digital Library (Accessed 6 February 2014)</ref><ref name="Griffiths">[[Richard Griffiths (historian)|Richard Griffiths]], ''Fellow Travellers of the Right: British Enthusiasts for Nazi Germany''. London: Constable, 1980. p.52 The names are from MI5 Report. 1 August 1934. PRO HO 144/20144/110. (Cited in Thomas Norman Keeley ''[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0026/MQ37564.pdf Blackshirts Torn: inside the British Union of Fascists, 1932- 1940]'' p.26) (Accessed 6 February 2014)</ref>
** His wife Lady Russell was also a member.<ref name=GDL/><ref name=Griffiths/>
* [[Edward Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford]], was a member of the House of Lords.
* [[Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford]], was a member of the House of Lords.<ref>[[Richard Griffiths (historian)|Richard Griffiths]], [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/58844?docPos=2 "Russell, Hastings William Sackville, twelfth duke of Bedford (1888–1953)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed., January 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref>
* [[Alexander Raven Thomson]] was the party's Director of Public Policy.<ref name=ODNB/>
* [[Theodore Schurch]], a Nazi collaborator who became the last person executed in the United Kingdom for a crime other than murder.
* [[Frank Cyril Tiarks]], of German extraction, was a banker, a Director of the [[Bank of England]] and a prominent member of the [[Anglo-German Fellowship]]. 
** His wife, Emmy née Brödermann, was also a member.
* [[Frederick Toone]] was the manager of the England cricket team and Yorkshire Cricket Club.
* [[Henry Williamson]] was a writer, best known for his 1927 work ''[[Tarka the Otter]]''.<ref>Anne Williamson, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/46427?docPos=2 "Williamson, Henry William (1895–1977)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924155226/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/46427?docPos=2 |date=24 September 2015 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online ed., January 2008 (Accessed 5 February 2014)</ref>

==In popular culture==
[[File:Blackshorts.svg|thumb|right|Emblem of [[P. G. Wodehouse]]'s fictional ''Black Shorts'' movement that appeared in the television series ''[[Jeeves and Wooster]]'']]
* The [[Channel 4]] television serial ''[[Mosley (TV serial)|Mosley]]'' (1998) portrayed the career of Oswald Mosley during his years with the BUF. The four-part series was based on the books ''Rules of the Game'' and ''Beyond the Pale'', written by his son [[Nicholas Mosley]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/28497 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012020004/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/28497 |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 October 2009 |title=Mosley |author=BFI Film & TV Database |year=2012 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=8 November 2012}}</ref>
* In the film ''[[It Happened Here]]'' (1964), the BUF appears to be the ruling party of German-occupied Britain. A Mosley speech is heard on the radio in the scene before everyone goes to the cinema.
* The first depiction of Mosley and the BUF in fiction occurred in [[Aldous Huxley]]'s novel ''[[Point Counter Point]]'' (1932), in which Mosley is depicted as Everard Webley, the murderous leader of the "BFF", the Brotherhood of Free Fascists; he comes to a nasty end.
* The BUF has been featured in several novels by [[Harry Turtledove]].
** In his [[alternative history]] novel ''[[In the Presence of Mine Enemies]]'', set in 2010 in a world in which the Nazis were triumphant, the BUF led by Prime Minister Charlie Lynton governs Britain. It is here that the first stirrings of the reform movement appear.
** In the ''[[Southern Victory]]'' series, set in a reality in which the [[Confederate States of America]] became independent and the [[Central Powers]] (including the United States) won [[Great War (series)|that reality's analogue of the First World War]], the "Silver Shirts" (analogous to the BUF) entered into a coalition with the Conservatives who were led by Churchill with Mosley being appointed [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]].
** The BUF and Mosley also appear as background influences in Turtledove's ''[[Colonization (series)|Colonization]]'' trilogy which follows the [[Worldwar]] tetralogy and is set in the 1960s.
* [[James Herbert]]'s novel ''[['48 (novel)|'48]]'' (1996) has a protagonist who is hunted by BUF Blackshirts in a devastated London after a [[biological weapon]] is released during the Second World War. The history of the BUF and Mosley is recapitulated.
* In [[Ken Follett]]'s novel ''[[Night Over Water]]'', several of the main characters are BUF members. In his book ''[[Winter of the World]]'', the Battle of Cable Street plays a role and some of the characters are involved in either the BUF or the anti-BUF organisations.
* The BUF also appears in [[Guy Walters]]' book ''The Leader'' (2003), in which Mosley is the dictator of Britain in the 1930s.
* The British humorous writer [[P. G. Wodehouse]] satirized the BUF in books and short stories. The BUF was satirized as "The Black Shorts",<ref name="Code of the Woosters">{{cite book |author-last=Wodehouse |author-first=Pelham Grenville |author-link=P. G. Wodehouse |title=The Code of the Woosters |publisher=Arrow Books |date=1 May 2008 |orig-year=First published 1938 by [[Barrie & Jenkins|Herbert Jenkins Ltd.]] |isbn=978-0099513759 |edition=reprinted |page=66}}</ref> rather than "shirts", because all of the best shirt colours were already taken. Its leader was [[Roderick Spode]], the owner of a ladies' underwear shop.
* The British novelist [[Nancy Mitford]] satirized the BUF and Mosley in ''[[Wigs on the Green]]'' (1935). [[Diana Mitford]], the author's sister, had been romantically involved with Mosley since 1932.
* In the 1992 Acorn Media production of [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (novel)|One, Two, Buckle My Shoe]]'' with [[David Suchet]] and [[Philip Jackson (actor)|Philip Jackson]], one of the supporting characters (played by [[Christopher Eccleston]]) secures a paid position as a rank-and-file member of the BUF.
* The BUF and Oswald Mosley are alluded to in [[Kazuo Ishiguro]]'s novel ''[[The Remains of the Day]]''.
* The BUF and Mosley are shown in the BBC version of ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (2010 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' (2010) in which two of the characters are BUF supporters.
* The [[Pogues]]' song "[[The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn]]", from their album ''[[Rum Sodomy & the Lash]]'' (1985), refers to the BUF in its second verse with the line "And you decked some fucking blackshirt who was cursing all the Yids".
* [[Ned Beauman]]'s first novel, ''[[Boxer, Beetle]]'' (2010), portrays the Battle of Cable Street.
* C. J. Samson's novel ''Dominion'' (2012) has Sir Oswald Mosley as [[Home Secretary]] in a "post-[[Dunkirk evacuation|Dunkirk]] peace with Germany alternate history thriller" set in 1952. [[Lord Beaverbrook]] is Prime Minister of an authoritarian coalition government. Blackshirts tend to be auxiliary policemen.
* In the film ''[[The King's Speech]]'' (2010), a brief shot shows a brick wall in London plastered with posters, some of them reading "Fascism is Practical Patriotism" and others reading "Stand by the King". Both sets of posters were put up by British Blackshirts, who supported [[King Edward VIII]]. Edward was suspected of fascist leanings.<ref>Ziegler, ''King Edward VIII: The official biography'', p. 392</ref>
* [[Sarah Phelps]] used the British Union of Fascists' insignia as a theme in her 2018 [[BBC One]] adaptation of [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[The ABC Murders (TV series)|The A.B.C. Murders]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/writersroom/entries/4e6f59df-9a65-43f8-b02f-6353eecd27c7 |title=The ABC Murders |website=BBC Writers' Room |author=Sarah Phelps |date=20 December 2018 |access-date=24 January 2019 |archive-date=26 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126011031/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/writersroom/entries/4e6f59df-9a65-43f8-b02f-6353eecd27c7 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Amanda K. Hale]]'s novel ''Mad Hatter'' (2019) features her father [[James Larratt Battersby]] as a member of the BUF.
* Mosley was portrayed by [[Sam Claflin]] in Series 5 and 6 of the BBC show ''[[Peaky Blinders (TV series)|Peaky Blinders]]'' as the founder of the BUF.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-49405924 |title=Who was Sir Oswald Mosley? |work=[[BBC News]] |date=26 August 2019 |access-date=7 October 2019 |archive-date=4 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904012611/https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-49405924 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The legacy of BUF is a theme of the final episode of season 8 of the detective series ''[[Father Brown (2013 TV series)|Father Brown]]''.

==Election results==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! By-election !! Candidate !! Votes !! % share
|-
| [[1940 Silvertown by-election]] || {{sortname|Tommy|Moran}} || 151 || 1.0
|-
| [[1940 Leeds North East by-election]] || {{sortname|Sydney|Allen|nolink=1}} || 722 || 2.9
|-
| [[1940 Middleton and Prestwich by-election]] || {{sortname|Frederick|Haslam|nolink=1}} || 418 || 1.3
|}

==See also==
* [[List of British fascist parties]]
* ''[[Mosley (TV serial)|Mosley]]'' (1997)
* The [[flash and circle]] symbol
* [[Battle of South Street]] – an incident between BUF members and anti-fascists in Worthing on 9 October 1934
* [[Canadian Union of Fascists]] - affiliated Canadian party

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=

}}

==Further reading==
* Caldicott, Rosemary (2017) ''Lady Blackshirts. The perils of Perception - Suffragettes who became Fascists'', Bristol Radical Pamphletteer #39. {{ISBN|978-1911522393}}
* {{cite book|last=Cross |first=Colin |year=1963 |title=The Fascists in Britain |publisher=St. Martin's Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Dorril |first=Stephen |title=Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British fascism |publisher=Viking |location=London |date=2006 |isbn=978-0670869992}}
* Drabik, Jakub. (2016a) "British Union of Fascists", ''Contemporary British History'' '''30'''.1 (2016): 1–19.
* Drábik, Jakub. (2016b) "Spreading the faith: the propaganda of the British Union of Fascists", ''Journal of Contemporary European Studies'' (2016): '''1'''-15.
* Garau, Salvatore. "The Internationalisation of Italian Fascism in the face of German National Socialism, and its Impact on the British Union of Fascists", ''Politics, Religion & Ideology'' '''15'''.1 (2014): 45–63.
* {{cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Richard | author-link = Richard Griffiths (historian) | title=Fellow Travellers of the Right: British enthusiasts for Nazi Germany, 1933-39 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |date=1983 |isbn=978-0192851161}}
* {{cite book |last=Pugh |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Pugh (author) |title="Hurrah for the Blackshirts!": Fascists and Fascism in Britain between the Wars |publisher=Pimlico |location=London |date=2006 |isbn=9781844130870 |edition=1st}}
* {{cite book |last=Thurlow |first=Richard |title=Fascism in Britain: From Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts to the National Front |publisher=Tauris |location=London |date=2006 |isbn=978-1860643378 |edition=rev.}}

{{Oswald Mosley}}
{{Fascism}}
{{UK far right}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1932 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1940 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Antisemitic political parties]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British fascist movements]]
[[Category:Banned far-right parties]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Fascist parties in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Oswald Mosley]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1940]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1932]]
[[Category:Racism in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:National syndicalism]]