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.[1]
Labour activists claimed that supporters of the Conservative candidate had used the slogan "if you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour",[2] but Colin Jordan, leader of the neo-NaziBritish 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!".[3] Griffiths denied that the slogan was racist, saying:
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.
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.[5] Griffiths did, however, poll 436 votes less in 1964 than when he stood unsuccessfully for the Smethwick constituency in 1959:
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.[1] 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.[6][7]
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] 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.[8]
The actions taken have been described as "ugly Tory racism" which "killed rational debate about immigration".[5] However, colour bars were then common in Smethwick, preventing non-whites from using facilities: The Labour club in Smethwick operated one, as did the local Sandwell Youth Club, which was run by one of the town's Labour councillors.[8]
