Republican Party (United States)
Founded in 1854, the GOP originally subscribed to classical liberalism and took ideological stands that were anti-slavery and pro-economic reform. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president in the history of the United States. The party was usually dominant over the Democrats during the Third Party System and Fourth Party System. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party after being rejected by the GOP and ran as a third-party presidential candidate. Roosevelt called for many social reforms, some of which were later championed by New Deal Democrats in the 1930s. He lost the 1912 election, and when most of his supporters returned to the GOP, they were at odds with the party's new conservative economic stance; many left for the Democratic Party, and an ideological shift to the right occurred in the Republican Party. Later in the 20th century, the liberal Republican element was overwhelmed by a conservative surge begun by Barry Goldwater in 1964 and continued during the Reagan Era.
Battle of South Street
On 31 March 1930, Charles Bentinck Budd was elected to the Offington ward of West Sussex County Council. Later that year, Budd, who lived at Greenville, Grove Road, Worthing, was elected to the town council as the independent representative of Ham Ward in the Broadwater area of the town. In 1933 Oswald Mosley relaunched his 'New Party' as the British Union of Fascists, following a visit to Benito Mussolini in Italy. One of the first branches of the BUF was set up by Budd in Worthing, who attracted a good deal of publicity through various high profile antics and numerous visits to the town from Mosley and William Joyce. At an election meeting on 16 October 1933, Budd revealed he was now a member of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). Budd was re-elected and the national press reported that Worthing was the first town in the country to elect a fascist councillor. Budd stormed out of the Town Hall when other councillors refused to give him the committee places he desired and attacked the Council for refusing to allow the Fascists to hold open-air meetings at the site of the old fish market near Worthing Pier, a privilege that was allowed for the Salvation Army.