Robert Forgan was a British politician who was a close associate of Oswald Mosley.
13 Facts About Robert Forgan
1.
2.
The Scottish-born Forgan was the son of a Church of Scotland minister.
3.
Robert Forgan served as a public health officer in Glasgow and in that capacity adopted socialism because of the city's poor conditions.
4.
Robert Forgan entered local politics as a member of Glasgow Council after he had seen active service in the war.
5.
Robert Forgan was one of the signatories of the Mosley Memorandum, which outlined his political vision and soon followed Mosley into the New Party when it was set up.
6.
Robert Forgan had officially left the Labour Party on 24 February 1931 and sometime that year co-authored with Adam Marshall Diston The New Party and the ILP.
7.
Robert Forgan was appointed to a council for policy and strategy formation that was set up to decide the running of the party and acted as Chief Whip during the New Party's brief run in Parliament.
8.
At the 1931 general election, Robert Forgan polled 1,304 votes in West Renfrewshire in what represented one of the best results for the New Party in a disappointing election.
9.
Robert Forgan joined Mosley's British Union of Fascists and was initially Director of Organisation.
10.
Robert Forgan was keen to stress that the BUF had no ban on Jews despite the activities of Adolf Hitler.
11.
Robert Forgan was keen to keep the BUF aloof from rival far-right groups such as the Imperial Fascist League as he felt that it was essential to avoid making the BUF seem too foreign in ideological terms.
12.
Robert Forgan held that position until 1934, when he left the BUF because of its drift towards anti-Semitism.
13.
Robert Forgan particularly disliked the growing influence of William Joyce, a staunch anti-Semite, who replaced Wilfred Risdon, a colleague of Robert Forgan from the ILP and the New Party, as Director of Propaganda the same year.