Through these activities, he split with the majority of his union's executive, in particular, the right-wing secretary Tom Gowdridge, who had encouraged miners to return to work.
[3] The strike concluded by the end of the year, and Gowdridge announced that the union could no longer afford to pay an agent.
He resigned and formed the rival "New Miners' Union" in January 1927, immediately attracting somewhere between one hundred and 250 members, in a similar fashion to the later creation of the United Mineworkers of Scotland.
Smith disbanded his union in March, on condition that the LMA hold an election for a new agent, and accept his candidacy for the post.
Gowdridge ultimately did not hold an election, and the unemployed Smith instead moved to Leicester and set up an ice cream-selling business.