McLaughlin, in contrast to Jordan, was under no delusions that the BM might gain a broad following and instead he felt that its best area of possible support was amongst young, working-class males. The BM journals, The Phoenix and British Patriot, thus changed to become much more simplistic and aggressive publications largely shorn of Jordan's pseudoscientific racialism in favour of more basic notions.R. Hill & A. Bell, The Other Face of Terror, p. 121. The BM had also gained some publicity in 1976 when "race martyr" and sometime party activist Robert Relf went on hunger strike in protest at the Race Relations Bill but this proved short-lived as Tyndall quickly signed Relf up to the NF.Walker, The National Front, p. 195. Relf had gained national attention after he advertised his house as being "For Sale - to a white family only". Meanwhile, McLaughlin's baser ideas struck a chord with the growing White power skinhead movement and large numbers of these youths, many of whom were involved in regular acts of violence against non-Whites, flocked to the BM.R. Hill & A. Bell, The Other Face of Terror, pp. 121–122. By 1980 it claimed to have 4,000 members and 25 branches.
