The National Fellowship was a minor

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

libertarian conservative Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a Political philosophy, political and social philosophy that combines Conservatism in the United States, conservatism and Libertarianism in the ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

The party was launched under Chairman

Edward Martell Edward Ambrose Martell (February 23, 1918 – July 12, 1995)''U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007'' was an American radiochemist for the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. He fough ...

on 1 January 1962, with full page advertisements in national broadsheets. The advert referred to the organisation as part of a movement spearheaded by ''

The New Daily ''The New Daily'' is an online, non-paywalled, Australian newspaper founded in 2013 The founding editor is Bruce Guthrie, currently the editorial director (as at the beginning of June 2019), who was formerly the Editor-in-Chief of the ''Herald ...

'' newspaper. They claimed that they would mostly attract supporters from the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, but attacked

Iain MacLeod Iain Norman Macleod (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister. A playboy and professional bridge player in his twenties, after war service Macleod worked for the Conservative Researc ...

as "inclined to a mild sort of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

". The initial policies listed included opposition to many

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

activities,

anti-communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

, cuts to government expenditure and welfare and more restrictions on immigration. The associated advisory committee included former Chairman of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Lord Moynihan Baron Moynihan, of Leeds in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 March 1929 for the surgeon Sir Berkeley Moynihan, 1st Baronet, the son of the Victoria Cross recipient Andrew Moynihan. Sir ...

, Conservative MPs

Donald Johnson Donald James "Don" Johnson (born September 9, 1968) is an American former professional tennis player who reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking in 2002. Although born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, he was raised and learned the sport of tennis i ...

and

Henry Kerby Henry Briton Kerby (11 December 1914 – 4 January 1971) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament for Arundel and Shoreham. He won the seat in a 1954 by-election, and served until his death at the age of 56 in Chichester in 1971. For a ti ...

and former Liberal MP

Don Bennett Air Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett, (14 September 1910 – 15 September 1986) was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest air vice marshal in the Royal Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder Fo ...

. Moynihan's support to the party led to his removal as a vice-president of the Yorkshire Area Liberal Federation. The advert also gave details of an Establishment Committee. This prompted

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

and

Nicholas Luard Nicholas Lamert Luard (26 June 1937 Hampstead, London – 25 May 2004 Kensington, London) was a writer and politician. Background He was educated at Winchester College and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read English and was taught by F. ...

to write to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' noting that this was unconnected with their recently created club,

The Establishment ''The Establishment'' is a term used to describe a dominant social group , group or elite that controls a polity or an organization. It may comprise a closed social group that selects its own members, or entrenched elite structures in specific ...

, but that they hoped it would provide them with material for their comedy shows. The party planned to stand a candidate in the 1962 Leicester North East by-election. The Conservative candidate,

Robin Marlar Robin Geoffrey Marlar (2 January 1931 – 30 September 2022) was an English cricketer and cricket journalist. He played for Cambridge University before playing for Sussex County Cricket Club from 1951 to 1968. He captained both teams. Early li ...

, attended a meeting they organised, but left as soon as he was invited to speak, stating that he had "nothing but contempt" for their plans. Despite this, the Fellowship decided not to put up a candidate. In early 1963, Martell joined the Conservative Party, but maintained the Fellowship. The Fellowship's first candidacy was at the

1963 Bristol South East by-election The 1963 Bristol South East by-election was a by-election held on 20 August 1963 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bristol South East in the city of Bristol. The seat had become vacant in 1961 when the constituency's Labour Member o ...

. A 1961 by-election in the constituency was won by Labour Party politician

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

, but he was disqualified by reason of his peerage, and the seat was instead awarded to second-placed Conservative Malcolm St Clair. As the law had been changed, permitting Benn to renounce his peerage, St Clair agreed to stand down and the Conservatives did not run a candidate in the by-election. Martell attempted to persuade either of two local businessmen to stand for the Fellowship against Benn, but both refused. Instead, Martell stood himself."3 will oppose Benn", ''

'', 10 August 1963 The Fellowship was Benn's main challenger from the right. Martell took a distant second place, with 19% of the vote, becoming the first independent candidate in 17 years to hold his deposit. The party spent most of its funds supporting favoured Conservatives at the 1964 general election, and Martell wrote to all previous donors, asking for personal loans, repayable on 14 days' notice. He soon proved unable to repay these loans, prompting questions in Parliament. In July 1966, he merged the Fellowship with other campaigns he had run, including the "Freedom Group", into the National Party. The new party announced their intention to contest at least the next five by-elections, but ultimately their only candidate was Bennett, who took last place in the 1967 Nuneaton by-election.

F. W. S. Craig Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...

, ''Minor Parties at British Parliamentary Elections'' Martell was declared bankrupt in 1968,"Mr Edward Martell - 'no assets'", ''

'', 4 May 1968 after which the party disappeared.

Notes

References

Minor political parties in Britain
''Political Quarterly'' *''British Political Facts 7th Edition'', David Butler and Gareth Butler {{UK far right Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom Far-right political parties in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 1962 Political parties disestablished in 1968