League of Empire Loyalists

The League of Empire Loyalists was a pressure group (also called a 'ginger group' in Britain and the British Commonwealth), established in 1954, campaigning against the dissolution of the British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s.

It was a small group of current or former members of the Conservative Party led by Arthur K. Chesterton, a former leading figure in the British Union of Fascists, who had served under Oswald Mosley. The League found support from a number of Conservative Party members, although they were disliked very much by the leadership. [S. Taylor, "The National Front in English Politics", London: Macmillan, 1982, p. 12]

They were well-known for various stunts at Conservative Party meetings and conferences (acting as a constant irritant to the party). These stunts included hiding underneath the speaker platform overnight to emerge during the conference in order to put across their points. At the 1958 party Conference in Blackpool, George Irvine Finlay (who became Director of Organisation for the Scottish Conservatives) was involved in forcibly removing members of the League of Empire Loyalists. The widespread media coverage resulted in his being sued for assault; not only was he acquitted but costs were awarded against the prosecution. [George Irvine Finlay Obituary, Herald, (05/01/1999)] After these antics the Tory leadership made it clear to their members that the LEL was to be discouraged, leading to a severe downturn in membership. [Taylor, op cit, p. 13]

As time progressed, the group became primarily concerned with opposing non-white immigration into Britain and were instrumental in the founding (with other right-wing and neo-Nazi groups) of the National Front in February 1967. Although sometimes labeled fascist according to historian Roger Eatwell: "Most of its 2000-3000 active members were Colonel Blimpish rather than fascist: in fact many of its members saw it as a Conservative ginger group... an attempt to keep the Conservatives true to the Imperial way." [R. Eatwell, Fascism : A History, London: Pimlico, 2003, p.334]

Members were mostly proud of the traditions and achievements of the United Kingdom, and did not openly support Nazism or Fascism. There was however a widespread anti-Semitism in the group. However, Chesterton - despite his past - refused to ban Jews from membership, resulting in John Bean, Colin Jordan, John Tyndall and Martin Webster leaving in 1957 to form their own openly Nazi groups, the National Labour Party (Bean) and the White Defence League (Jordan "et al"). These groups later merged to become the original British National Party which itself later became part of the National Front. The departure of these members saw the LEL go into decline and according to Rodney Legg, the subscriptions secretary of the period, membership dropped from about 3000 in 1958 to 300 in 1961, primarily due to deaths from old age.

In the 1964 General Election, three members of the League stood as "Independent Loyalist" candidates, each collecting a few hundred votes, but finding that donations poured in from all over the country to help them fight the campaign. This made a deep impression on Chesterton, who had largely been obliged to fund the LEL out of his own pocket. Although he was to be preoccupied over the next three years with his legal case contesting the will of his financial benefactor, the millionaire Robert K. Jeffrey, it proved to be the beginning of moves towards the creation in 1967 of the National Front. Chesterton sought dialogue with the BNP in 1966 and before long a merger had been agreed. [Taylor, op cit, p. 18]

References

ee also

*British Nationalism