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 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 ...

Early life and medical career

The Scottish-born Forgan was the son of a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

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 grammar school ...

and the Universities of Aberdeen and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

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

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.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 Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, especi ...

. He served as a public health officer in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and in that capacity adopted

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

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 Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

, 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 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 parliament. ...

, 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 Adam Marshall Diston (1893–1956; born in Scotland) was a journalist for the '' Sunday Dispatch'' and ghostwriter for Winston Churchill.Tim Butcher,Churchill's attitude to Jews divides historians (12/03/07) on ''The Daily Telegraph'' He had 'clos ...

''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 ...

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 was the first political organisation in the United Kingdom to claim the label of fascist, although the group had little ideological unity apart from anti-socialism for much of its existence, and was strongly associated with ...

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, fo ...

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 the ...

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

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

despite the activities of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

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

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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

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 Spiel ...

, 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 only the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established ...

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

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

groups such as the

Imperial Fascist League The Imperial Fascist League (IFL) was a British fascist political movement founded by Arnold Leese in 1929 after he broke away from the British Fascists. It included a blackshirted paramilitary arm called the Fascists Legion, modelled after the ...

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 (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

Robert Skidelsky Robert Jacob Alexander, 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 history at Jesus C ...

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 fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, J ...

, 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 W ...

, 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