During the 1964 general election the NSM was active in Smethwick where they campaigned for Conservative candidate Peter Griffiths against Foreign Secretary Patrick Gordon Walker, a hate figure for the far right for his perceived role in allowing high levels of immigration. During the campaign a number of publicity grabbing stunts were attempted, including an NSM member dressing up as a monkey and another attempting to register for election as Gordon-Walker the "race-mixing" candidate whilst dressed as a character from "The Black and White Minstrel Show".