Oswald Mosley, 6th baronet (1896-80; ODNB), Sandhurst; service in Royal Flying Corps 1914-16, invalided; first marriage, 1920, to Lord Curzon's daughter, Cynthia (1898-1933); MP (C) Harrow, 1918-22, (Indep.) 1922-4, (Lab) 1924, Smethwick 1926-31 (New party) 1931; in politics identified throughout with a range of radical causes and disrespect for conventional party politics; adopted a succession of independent economic programmes from 1925; chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, 1929-30, to deal with employment policies; after a spectacular ministerial resignation, in 1931 founded the New party; after exclusion from the National government and loss of his parliamentary seat, founded the British Union of Fascists in 1932, adopting increasingly violent rhetoric; m. 1936 Diana Mitford (1910-2003) in Berlin, with Hitler present; campaigned for peace with Nazi Germany 1939-40; imprisoned as security risk 1940-43; founded quasi-fascist movements during the 1950s. See also Volume 61.

Journal references: 2

• 22 Dec 1926
• 23 Oct 1930