Description
TLC ZOOM
TUESDAY 18th June 2024 @ 18:00 BST
The 1922 Committee
Sir Graham Brady
Chairman, The 1922 Committee
The 1922 Committee, also known as “the 22”, is a committee of all backbench Conservative MPs that meets weekly when the Commons is sitting.
Its chair, usually a senior MP, is elected by committee members and has considerable influence within the Parliamentary Party.
Despite its name, the 1922 Committee was actually set up in April 1923 following an initiative by new Conservative MPs elected at the 1922 General Election to facilitate cooperation within the party.
Over the last few years “the 22” has been a very regular feature in the political machinations of the House of Commons and who better to tell us more than its highly respected Chair – Sir Graham Brady.
Biography
Sir Graham has been the MP for Altrincham and Sale West since 1997 and the Chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs since 2010.
The 1922 Committee is the principal conduit for communication between Conservative MPs and the Prime Minister. Conservative Ministers advise the Prime Minister on the mood of the party, whilst ensuring that Ministers have an opportunity to speak to colleagues and listen to their views on policy.
Graham is well known to be independent-minded and a champion of state grammar schools, having resigned from the front bench in 2007 to campaign in support of selective education.
He was awarded ‘Backbencher of the Year’ by The Spectator in 2010. He was knighted for political and public service in 2018, receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton later that year. In 2023 Graham was sworn into the Privy Council and awarded the Freedom of the City of London.
Graham has previously served as a shadow minister, holding the schools, employment, as well as the Europe brief.
Graham also served on the Education and Employment Select Committee from 1997-2001 and the Treasury Select Committee from 2007-2010.
Prior to his election in 1997, Graham was Public Affairs Director of the Waterfront Partnership. He had previously worked at the Centre for Policy Studies and Shandwick Plc.
Graham studied law at Durham University. He is married to Victoria and they have a daughter and a son.
Sir Graham is standing down at the forthcoming General Election so may be encouraged to do a bit of ‘crystal ball gazing’
