By 1961, the LEL found itself in financial trouble, and Chesterton was funding the group himself. The group had also lost many of its members, falling from a 1958 high of 3000 to only 300 members. Some had left with Hilton to join his Patriotic Party whilst another group of leavers had been the supporters of Colin Jordan. Jordan had left in 1957 after his call to bar Jews and non-whites from the LEL had been rejected whilst John Bean had left under acrimonious circumstances the following year. Both men advocated the formation of mass parties, an idea that Chesterton rejected, and over time they won support to their respective groups, the White Defence League and the National Labour Party by advocating these and other more radical ideas.