The British Union of Fascists was the creation of Sir Oswald Mosley (1896–1980), a charismatic Conservative MP who turned to Labour in the 1920s only to resign when his attempt to reform the party failed in 1931. Disillusioned with mainstream politics, Mosley founded the authoritarian New Party and after a visit to Mussolini’s Italy in 1932, he re-arranged this political platform into the British Union of Fascists (BUF). BUF united a number of already existing fascist organisations and, in the years that led up to the war, it became the foremost voice of British extreme right politics, and as a visible presence on the streets of London.