Decline and Splits
By 1961 the LEL found itself in financial trouble with Chesterton himself funding the group. The group had also lost considerable membership, falling from a 1958 high of 3000 to only 300 members. Some had left with Hilton to join his Patriotic Party whilst another group of departees had been the supporters of Colin Jordan. Jordan had left initially in 1957 after his call to bar Jews and non-whites from the LEL had been rejected whilst John Bean had left in acrimonious circumstances the following year. Both men advocated the formation of mass parties, an idea that Chesterton rejected, and over time they won support to their respective groups, the White Defence League and the National Labour Party by advocating these and other more radical ideas.
By the mid 1960s the LEL was a shadow of its former self as, according to leading member Rodney Legg, it had come to be seen as archaiac and anachronistic whilst it was struggling even more with a lack of funds. Indeed by 1964 Chesterton was already being heard to say in private that the future of the LEL might be better served by joining up with the younger, more radical members who had departed earlier in the decade. In an attempt to reinvigorate the flagging group Chesterton was persuaded to put up three "Independent Loyalist" candidates in the 1964 General Election but between them they managed to secure only 1064 votes. According to Michael Billig the League only contested these seats as a public stunt rather than due to having any pretensions to becoming a political party.
Read more about this topic: League Of Empire Loyalists
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