Oswald Mosley

Sir Oswald Mosley Bt
Portrait of Mosley by Glyn Warren Philpot (1925)
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 7 June 1929 – 19 May 1930
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	Ronald John McNeill
Succeeded by	Clement Attlee
Member of Parliament for Smethwick
In office 21 December 1926 – 27 October 1931
Preceded by	John Davison
Succeeded by	Roy Wise
Member of Parliament for Harrow
In office 14 December 1918 – 29 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(1980-12-03) (aged 84) Orsay, Paris, France
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative Party (1918–1922) Independent (1922–1924; 1940–1948) Labour Party (1924–1931) New Party (1931–1932) British Union of Fascists (1932–1940) Union Movement (1948–1973)
Other political affiliations	National Party of Europe (1962–1980)
Spouse(s)	Lady Cynthia Mosley (1920–1933) Diana Mitford (1936–1980)
Children	Vivien Mosley (deceased) Nicholas Mosley Michael Mosley Alexander Mosley (deceased) Max Mosley
Alma mater	Winchester College Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Awards	Victory Medal British War Medal 1914–15 Star
Military service
Allegiance	British Empire
Service/branch	British Army • 16th The Queen's Lancers • Royal Flying Corps
Years of service	1914–1918
Rank	Lieutenant
Battles/wars	First World War • Second Battle of Ypres • Battle of Loos

Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (/ɒzwɔːld.ˈmoʊzli/; 16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician. Achieving political prominence at a very early age, and regarded at one point as a potential Labour Prime Minister, he is remembered principally for his role in the 1930s as the founding leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF).

After service in the First World War, Mosley was a Member of Parliament for Harrow from 1918 to 1924, first as a Conservative, then an independent, before joining the Labour Party. He 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 1929–31. He resigned due to his disagreement with the Labour Government's unemployment policies. He then formed the New Party. He lost his seat at Smethwick in 1931. The New Party merged with the BUF (which included the Blackshirts) in 1932.

Mosley was interned in 1940 and the BUF was proscribed. He was released in 1943, and, politically discredited by his association with fascism, he moved abroad in 1951, spending most of the remainder of his life in France. He stood for Parliament twice in the postwar era, achieving very little support.