Editing British Movement (section)

==Political activity==
{{Neo-Nazism sidebar|organizations}}
The BM entered electoral politics in 1969 when Jordan put himself forward as a candidate for the [[1969 Birmingham Ladywood by-election|Birmingham Ladywood by-election]]. The campaign made no attempts to hide the party's support for [[Nazism]] and violence became the hallmark, not least on the election night itself when scuffles at the count were televised nationally.<ref>Hill & Bell, ''The Other Face of Terror'', p. 37.</ref> The 3.5% vote share that the BM secured was treated as a success by activists who felt that it proved that even with a Nazi message nearly 300 people were still prepared to vote for an anti-immigration candidate.<ref>Hill & Bell, ''The Other Face of Terror'', pp. 37–38.</ref> Indeed, the BM members had openly worn the [[Nazi Germany|German Nazi]] [[Swastika]] symbol, and party literature featured pictures of Nazi leader [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>Hill & Bell, ''The Other Face of Terror'', p. 38.</ref>

The BM contested the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|UK general elections in 1970]] and in [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974]]. The party failed to attract much support in those elections due to its openness about its support for Nazism, and because most of the [[far right]] vote went to the [[British National Front|National Front]] (NF). The group's highest result was the 2.5% share which Jordan captured in [[Birmingham Aston (UK Parliament constituency)|Birmingham Aston]] in 1970.<ref>S. Taylor, ''The National Front in English Politics'', London: Macmillan, 1982, p. 22.</ref> Nonetheless, contact between the BM and NF was not infrequent and in early 1972 [[John Tyndall (politician)|John Tyndall]] had met with Jordan and discussed the possibility that the BM might form the basis of a new NF group in the Midlands, an area of BM strength and NF weakness. The proposal was soon dropped however and was largely made only because Tyndall was seeking to build a power-base in his attempts to replace [[John O'Brien (UK politician)|John O'Brien]] as NF chairman.<ref>Martin Walker, ''The National Front'', Glasgow: Fontana, 1977, p. 134.</ref> For his part, Jordan had a long-held ambition to unite the divided far-right and he personally oversaw the production of a BM leaflet, ''Nationalist Solidarity in '70'', in which he called for personal disagreements to be set aside in favour of presenting a united front.<ref>Hill & Bell, ''The Other Face of Terror'', pp. 135–136.</ref> There were occasional examples of individuals holding simultaneous membership of the BM and NF, although they were not linked at any official level.<ref>Michael Billig, ''A Social Psychological View of the National Front'', Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978, p. 239.</ref>

Jordan's run as leader came to an end in 1975 when he was arrested in the [[Coventry]] branch of [[Tesco]] on a charge of shoplifting. Jordan declared that the event, and the reports that the item he had stolen were a pair of women's knickers, was a frame-up, but soon after he resigned as leader of the BM to take on an advisory role.<ref>Hill & Bell, ''The Other Face of Terror'', pp. 119–120.</ref>