Robert Forgan (10 March 1891 – 8 January 1976) was a British politician who was a close associate of

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...

Early life and medical career

The

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born Forgan was the son of a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

minister.Dorril, p. 151 Educated up to doctorate level at

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest schools in the ...

and the Universities of Aberdeen and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, he entered the medical profession and served in that capacity in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.Benewick, p. 112 Forgan became a leading light in his field, served as vice-president of the Medical Society for the Study of Venereal Diseases and became recognised as a leading expert on

sexually-transmitted diseases A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral ...

. He served as a public health officer in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and in that capacity adopted

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

because of the city's poor conditions.

Political career

ILP and New Party

Forgan entered local politics as a member of Glasgow Council after he had seen active service in the war. Initially a member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

, he was elected to Parliament for West Renfrewshire in the 1929 general election. An early triumph saw him secure the installation of a ventilation system into the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, but he afterward became a fairly marginal figure.Benewick, p. 113 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. He 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'' (written as an appeal to ILP members). He was appointed to a council for policy and strategy formation that was set up to decide the running of the party and also acted as

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

during the New Party's brief run in Parliament. At the 1931 general election, Forgan polled 1,304 votes in West Renfrewshire in what represented one of the best results for the New Party in a disappointing election. A close friend of

, Forgan was godfather to his son Michael.

British Union of Fascists

With Mosley having embraced fascism, Forgan followed his lead and on Mosley's behalf led unsuccessful talks with the

British Fascists The British Fascists (originally called the British Fascisti) were the first political organisation in the United Kingdom to claim the label of fascism, formed in 1923. The group had lacked much ideological unity apart from anti-socialism for mo ...

that were aimed at having that movement taken over by the New Party. Forgan joined Mosley's

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a 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, f ...

and was initially Director of Organisation. The administrative role did not prove suitable, and soon, he became an important background figure who arranged private functions with leading businessmen in an attempt to secure support for Mosley and organised the

January Club The January Club was a discussion group founded in 1934 by Oswald Mosley to attract Establishment support for the movement known as the British Union of Fascists. The Club was under the effective control of Robert Forgan, working on behalf of t ...

to this end. Forgan was keen to stress that the BUF had no ban on

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

despite the activities of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. Indeed, Forgan attempted to court influential Jews, such as Liberal MP

Harry Nathan Harry Louis Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan, (2 February 1889 – 23 October 1963) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who from 1934 onwards represented the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. He served two London seats non-consecutive ...

and

Sir Philip Magnus-Allcroft, 2nd Baronet Sir Philip Montefiore Magnus-Allcroft, 2nd Baronet, CBE JP (8 February 1906 – 21 December 1988), was a British biographer. He wrote under the name Philip Magnus. Magnus-Allcroft was born in London, the son of Laurie Magnus and Dora Marian Sp ...

, through the January Club and even held meetings with the leaders of the

Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established in 17 ...

. Forgan was also keen to keep the BUF aloof from rival

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

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. As a result of his work, Forgan was promoted to deputy leader. He held that position until 1934, when he left the BUF because of its drift towards

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

Robert Skidelsky Robert Jacob Alexander Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, (born 25 April 1939) is a British economic historian. He is the author of a three-volume, award-winning biography of British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946). Skidelsky read histor ...

has argued that Forgan's conversion to fascism had always been at best half-hearted and had more to do with his personal loyalty to Mosley, which had largely disappeared. Forgan particularly disliked the growing influence of

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born Fascism, fascist and Propaganda of Nazi Germany, Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the World War II, Second World War. After moving from ...

, a staunch anti-Semite,Pugh, p. 221 who replaced

Wilfred Risdon Wilfred Risdon (28 January 1896 – 11 March 1967) was a British trade union organizer, a founder member of the British Union of Fascists and an antivivisection campaigner. His life and career encompassed coal mining, trade union work, First Wo ...

, a colleague of Forgan from the ILP and the New Party, as Director of Propaganda the same year. Forgan took no further role in politics.

Sources

* R. Benewick, ''Political Violence and Public Order'', London: Allan Lane, 1969, * S. Dorril, ''Blackshirt – Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism'', London: Penguin, 2007 * R. Griffiths, ''Fellow Travellers on the Right'', Oxford University Press, 1983 * M. Pugh, ''Hurrah for the Blackshirts: Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars'', Pimlico, 2006 * R. Skidelsky, ''Oswald Mosley'', Macmillan, 1981

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forgan, Robert 1891 births 1976 deaths Alumni of the University of Cambridge Scottish fascists Councillors in Glasgow Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1929–1931 Alumni of the University of Aberdeen 20th-century Scottish medical doctors British military personnel of World War I British Union of Fascists politicians People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School British Army officers Independent Labour Party MPs