The Scottish Democratic Fascist Party (SDFP) or Scottish Fascist Democratic Party was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It was founded in 1933 out of the Scottish section of the New Party by

William Weir Gilmour William Weir Gilmour (1905–1998), was a Scottish politician who was associated with five different political parties; the Independent Labour Party, the New Party, the Scottish Democratic Fascist Party, the Labour and Co-operative party and t ...

and Major Hume Sleigh.Kushner, Tony, and Kenneth Lunn.
Traditions of Intolerance: Historical Perspectives on Fascism and Race Discourse in Britain
'. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989. p. 199The Scotsman - Monday 12 June 1933 pg.7
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Party platform

The party charter emphasised: *"absolute independence and self-government for Scotland" *establishment of a Scottish Corporate Commonwealth *a Scottish Parliament based on industrial representation *establishment of a permanent Empire and Colonial Secretariat *prohibition of Irish migration to Scotland *expulsion of Catholic religious orders and their members from Scotland *repeal of the

Education (Scotland) Act 1918 The Education Act 1918 (8 & 9 Geo. V c. 39), often known as the Fisher Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was drawn up by H. A. L. Fisher. Herbert Lewis, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education, also played a k ...

(which allowed Catholic schools into the state system funded through education rates). No Catholics were permitted to join the SDFP. The party explained their anti-Catholic rationale as being that the party was "Scotland First", whereas Catholics where dismissed by the party as owing their allegiance to the Pope. The party alleged that it did not wish to establish a dictatorship. While not publicly advocating violence, the party had a "Defence Corp" to keep order at party meetings. Members of the Defence Corp wore black shirts, whilst the party uniform was a blue shirt. Later in 1933 the party removed the more anti-Catholic elements from its platform, resulting in Alexander Ratcliffe (leader of the

Scottish Protestant League The Scottish Protestant League (SPL) was a political party in Scotland during the 1920s and 1930s. The League was led by Alexander Ratcliffe, who founded it in 1920. Creation and initial years The SPL was launched by Ratcliffe in Edinburgh on ...

) leaving the party. The party folded soon afterwards.

Party organ

The monthly ''Commonwealth'' was launched as the SDFP organ on Monday 12 June 1933. Only two issues were published though, and the party failed to attract wide support.

Relations with the BUF

Despite being formed out of the Scottish section of

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

's New Party, the SDFP was at odds with Mosley's larger

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, ...

, particularly over the issue of Catholicism. In contrast to the SDFP, the BUF was accepting of Catholics, with Catholics making up a high percentage of the BUF membership, particularly in

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. This led to William Weir Gilmour denouncing the BUF as "''run by Roman Catholics, organised by Roman Catholics, in the interests of Roman Catholics''." Gilmour later opined that the SDFP's virulent anti-Catholicism may have unintentionally undermined fascism in Scotland by putting off prospective Catholic recruits.

References

{{Defunct political parties in Scotland Fascism in Scotland Fascist parties in the United Kingdom Defunct political parties in Scotland Political parties established in 1933 1933 establishments in Scotland Anti-Catholicism in Scotland