Oswald Mosley and the New Party

In 1931, as Britain's economy sunk further into depression, Sir Oswald Mosley made a fateful decision. Having served in Ramsay MacDonald's minority Labour government, he chose to secede from the Labour Party and launch a new political initiative. This was the New Party, inspired by the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes and the emergent modern movements on the continent. Though ultimately a spectacular failure, the New Party burned brightly if briefly. It helped pave the way for a wider debate on the possibilities of economic planning; it simultaneously led Mosley into the realm of fascism. Throughout this process, Mosley sought counsel from many of the period's most well-known personalities. As Mosley searched to find a solution to Britain's economic ails, he drew inspiration from the likes of George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells; he looked to secure the backing of Lord Beaverbrook and Lord Rothermere; he endeavoured to strike political deals with Winston Churchill and Lloyd George whilst also hoping to draw on the support of young, radical politicians such as Aneurin Bevan, John Strachey and Bo Boothby. In the event, the New Party's appeal proved ephemeral. Nevertheless, its brief history proved integral to Mosley's adoption of the blackshirt. It was in the New Party that British fascism was formed in embryo; it was in the New Party that Mosley raised the slogan of a corporate state and struggled to conceive a new form of politics that transcended the perceived limits of parliamentary democracy.