Smethwick in the 1964 general election

{{Short description|Racial controversy in the Smethwick constituency}}

{{Infobox election

| election_date = {{Start date|1964|10|15}}

| previous_election = 1959 United Kingdom general election

| previous_year = 1959

| next_election = 1966 United Kingdom general election

| next_year = 1966

| candidate1 = Peter Griffiths

| party1 = Conservative Party (UK)

| candidate2 = Patrick Gordon Walker

| party2 = Labour Party (UK)

| candidate3 = David Hugill

| party3 = Liberal Party (UK)

| image2 = File:Member of Parliament of Great Britain, Patrick Gordon Walker.jpg

| swing2 = {{decrease}}12.1 pp

| type = parliamentary

| swing1 = {{increase}}2.3 pp

| swing3 = {{steady}}

| image1 = {{eppt|Conservative Party (UK)|height=40}}

| image3 = {{eppt|Liberal Party (UK)|height=40}}

| popular_vote1 = 16,690

| popular_vote2 = 14,916

| popular_vote3 = 3,172

| percentage3 = 9.0%

| percentage2 = 42.6%

| percentage1 = 47.6%

| turnout = 74.1% ({{decrease}}1.8 pp)

| seats_for_election = Smethwick constituency

| country = United Kingdom

}}

The constituency of Smethwick in the West Midlands of England gained national media coverage at the 1964 general election, when Peter Griffiths of the Conservative Party gained the seat against the national trend, amidst controversy concerning racism.

File:The Council Chambers - Smethwick - geograph.org.uk - 688751.jpg, where the result was announced]]

Background

Following the Second World War, Smethwick attracted a significant number of immigrants from Commonwealth countries, the largest ethnic group being Sikhs from the Punjab in India. There was also a background of factory closures, and a growing waiting list for local council housing. Griffiths ran a campaign critical of both the opposition, and the government's, immigration policies.{{cite web|title=Britain's Racist Election|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/britains-racist-election/on-demand/59088-001|access-date=17 March 2015}}

Labour activists claimed that supporters of the Conservative candidate had used the slogan "if you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour",{{cite news|last1=Edwards|first1=Kathryn|title=Powell's "rivers of blood" legacy|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7343256.stm|access-date=17 March 2015|agency=BBC|publisher=BBC News|date=18 April 2008}} but Colin Jordan, leader of the neo-Nazi British Movement, claimed that his members had produced the initial slogan, as well as spread the poster and sticker campaign; Jordan's group in the past had also campaigned on other slogans, such as: "Don't vote – a vote for Tory, Labour or Liberal is a vote for more blacks!".{{Cite book|title=Colin Jordan and Britain's Neo-Nazi Movement: Hitler's Echo|last=Jackson|first=Paul|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|year=2016|isbn=978-1472509314|page=129}} Griffiths denied that the slogan was racist, saying:

{{quote|I should think that is a manifestation of the popular feeling. I would not condemn anyone who said that. I would say that is how people see the situation in Smethwick. I fully understand the feelings of the people who say it. I would say it is exasperation, not fascism.|quoted in The Times{{cite news |author1=Midland correspondent |title=Labour Accusation of Exploitation |url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1964-03-09/6/4.html |work=The Times|url-access=subscription |date=9 March 1964 |page=6}}}}

Election result

The 1964 general election had involved a nationwide swing from the Conservatives to the Labour Party, which had resulted in the latter party gaining a narrow five seat majority. However, in Smethwick, the Conservative candidate, Griffiths gained the seat and unseated the sitting Labour MP, Patrick Gordon Walker, who had served as Shadow Foreign Secretary for the eighteen months prior to the election.{{cite news |last1=Stanley |first1=Tim |author-link1=Tim Stanley |title=Peter Griffiths and the ugly Tory racism of the 1960s killed rational debate about immigration |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100248091/peter-griffiths-and-the-tory-racism-of-the-1960s-killed-rational-debate-about-immigration/ |access-date=15 August 2018 |work=The Telegraph |date=28 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131201001553/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100248091/peter-griffiths-and-the-tory-racism-of-the-1960s-killed-rational-debate-about-immigration/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 December 2013}} Griffiths did, however, poll 436 votes less in 1964 than when he stood unsuccessfully for the Smethwick constituency in 1959:

{{Election box begin |

|title=General election 1964: Smethwick

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Conservative Party (UK)

|candidate = Peter Griffiths

|votes = 16,690

|percentage = 47.6

|change = +2.3

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Labour Party (UK)

|candidate = Patrick Gordon Walker

|votes = 14,916

|percentage = 42.6

|change = −12.1

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Liberal Party (UK)

|candidate = David Hugill

|votes = 3,172

|percentage = 9.0

|change = N/A

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Independent (politician)

|candidate = Dudley Trevor Davies

|votes = 262

|percentage = 0.8

|change = N/A

}}

{{Election box majority|

|votes = 1,774

|percentage = 5.1

|change =

}}

{{Election box turnout|

|votes = 35,040

|percentage = 74.1

|change = −1.8

}}

{{Election box gain with party link|

|winner = Conservative Party (UK)

|loser = Labour Party (UK)

|swing = −7.2

}}

Figures nevertheless show that votes for Labour's Patrick Gordon Walker had been in decline from the 1950 general election onwards, culminating in this 1964 defeat by Peter Griffiths (see Smethwick (UK Parliament constituency) for details).

Aftermath

Following the election result, a British branch of the Ku Klux Klan was formed, and black and ethnic minority residents in the area had burning crosses put through their letterboxes. Peter Griffiths was declared "a parliamentary leper" by Harold Wilson, the new Labour Prime Minister. Griffiths, in his maiden speech to the Commons, pointed out what he believed were the real problems his constituency faced, including factory closures and over 4,000 families awaiting council accommodation.

Malcolm X visited Marshall Street in Smethwick to show solidarity with the black and Asian communities in the area. Nine days later, he was shot dead in New York.{{cite web|title=Malcolm X visits Smethwick|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQrbJkaHGfo|publisher=Midlands Today|access-date=21 March 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Arnot|first1=Chris|title=Malcolm X in the Black Country: Chris Arnot revisits Smethwick, where the Black Power leader claimed coloured people were being treated "like the Jews under Hitler"|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/malcolm-x-in-the-black-country-chris-arnot-revisits-smethwick-where-the-black-power-leader-claimed-coloured-people-were-being-treated-like-the-jews-under-hitler-1495312.html|access-date=17 March 2015|work=The Independent|date=3 March 1993}}

Malcolm X visited Marshall Street because of an official policy of racial segregation had been attempted to be put into place in Smethwick's housing allocation, with houses on Marshall Street in Smethwick being let only to white British residents.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} In 1964, a delegation of white residents petitioned the Conservative council to compulsorily purchase vacant houses to prevent non-whites from buying the houses. The policy was adopted by the council but was prevented by Labour housing minister Richard Crossman, who refused to allow the council to borrow the money in order to enact their policy.{{cite news |last1=Jeffries |first1=Stuart |title=Britain's most racist election: the story of Smethwick, 50 years on |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/britains-most-racist-election-smethwick-50-years-on |access-date=16 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=15 October 2014}}

Patrick Gordon Walker subsequently lost the 1965 Leyton by-election, in a usually safe Labour seat.

Labour regained Smethwick at the 1966 general election, when former actor Andrew Faulds became the new Member of Parliament.

Smethwick in the 1964 general election

Background

Election result

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading