by The Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee has the power to make or break the careers of MPs, up to the party leader. In fact, it has sealed the fate of two recent prime ministers.
In the time of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss who were dying in office, it was the duty of Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, to visit them in Downing Street and tell them that the game was on.
The committee, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, was established to represent the interests of backbench MPs. It operates behind closed doors, holding weekly meetings with MPs and acting as a conduit between the Conservative parliamentary party and the Government.
Given its influence, it is not surprising that the 1922 Committee occasionally attracts the attention of fellow MPs. But in recent weeks, frustration among the backbenchers has reached a boiling point, with committee members accused of acting as “stooges” for the Prime Minister.
As one former Cabinet minister put it, far from acting as a “shopkeeper”, some MPs now see the 1922 Committee as “supporting Rishi”.
One MP told the Telegraph: “They no longer represent the parliamentary party. It has become a thank you club for Rishi. They are just his stooges.” And they claimed that some senior members of the committee may have been “bought off with gongs and peers”.
Another old member and former officer of the 1922 Committee expressed this sentiment, saying: “One of the problems is that not too many of the officers of the 22 are standing again as Deputies of the Dáil, so what are they looking for? They are looking at their ticket to the House of Lords.”
“They should be more representative of what is happening. As for their relationship with the PM, there should be a healthy tension between the two. They are not really doing their job to strongly protect the interests of backbench MPs.”
The MPs argue that since some of the senior members of the committee are standing down at the next election, they are less inclined to rock the boat with Downing Street because they already have one foot out the door and they are, if anything, trying to do so. curry favor with Mr. Sunak.
Sir Graham has said he will not stand as an MP again, as has William Wragg, one of the co-chairs of the committee along with Jo Gideon, an executive member. A Downing Street source said they do not recognize claims about peers and gongs.
Some believe that those MPs who said they will stand down in the next election should give up their places on the committee to make way for fresh faces.
One former Cabinet minister said: “Most people feel that the 1922 Committee is not a useful body to express frustrations to the PM. You go to someone in Downing Street yourself, or you go other ways, or you go public with him.
“No one can remember their names except Graham Brady who is leaving at the next election anyway – that changes the position. It makes him a lame duck.”
‘Not a functional party’
Others believe that the rise of factions in the Conservative Party – the so-called “five families” – is partly a response to the lack of confidence in the ability of the 1922 Committee to convey the feelings of MPs satisfactorily to ministers.
“Talk about the increase in factions and how divided the party is” and “it shows how broken the 1922 Committee is. We are not a functional party”, say the Members.
The New Conservatives are the most recent of the groups, it was founded in May last year and its members are mainly the 2019 election intake.
Representing the largest single group within the Tories, the One Nation group covers a large number of MPs from the party’s core.
The European Research Group (ERG) is regarded as one of the most influential groups within the Tory party and played a major role during the Brexit negotiations.
The Common Sense Group was inspired by the ERG and was launched in November 2020 to provide a forum for right-wing MPs to coordinate policy initiatives. Finally, the Northern Research Group is made up of Research Fellows representing the constituencies in the north.
For some in the party, doubts about the objectives of the 1922 Committee date back to the Tory party leadership contest. “He was sacked and is being kept sacked by the 1922 committee,” said one MP.
At the time of the final leadership contest, the 1922 Committee drew up the rules together with the Conservative Party board.
The rules stated that only candidates who can get the nomination of 100 Members of the Dáil – out of approximately 360 available – can enter the voting round for the Members. This meant that Rishi Sunak was crowned as party leader and Prime Minister without a vote going out to Tory party members, as he did with his predecessor Ms Truss.
Keeping Mr. Sunak in power
John Strafford, chairman of the grassroots group Conservative Campaign For Democracy, said there is “no doubt whatsoever” that the 1922 Committee is keeping Mr Sunak in power.
“When Rishi became Prime Minister, the ’22 committee worked in conjunction with the party board and changed the existing system of how many people were needed to nominate a candidate,” he said.
“They changed the rules shamefully and party members were not consulted.”
One senior MP said: “The way the rules were manipulated to prevent a proper contest, to prevent Boris from being able to come back and so on, it all showed that it wasn’t They are objective and out for themselves. “
However, even those who are criticizing the committee are still praising Sir Graham who is well respected by his colleagues. “Graham has always been very discreet to his credit, he has not revealed what he said to prime ministers but he has dealt with reasonable discrimination on a number of different occasions,” said one MP.
Sir Graham said: “Most of the work of the officers and executives of the 1922 Committee is done in private and is more efficient for it. We also provide a regular open forum where all colleagues can voice their opinions.”
