1922 Commitee
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1922 Committee
The 1922 Committee, also referred to as ‘the 22’, is a British conservative parliamentary group that plays a significant role in Westminster politics, consistently within the confines of the House of Commons. Having been formed following the conclusion of World War I, it has had a greater deal of influence in UK conservative politics through its role as a support group and pressure group, with the latter role allowing profound influence in the overall structure of the party and its leadership.
Roles and functions
The Committee can pay a pivotal role in the leadership of the Conservative Party, and thus the leadership of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. With the ability to call votes of no confidence in leadership, the Committee could easily force a change of Prime Minister, should the Prime Minister in question also be Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.
The most memorable instance of this was seen in 1990 when then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - who had had a tumultuous 11-year premiership - was beginning to see great dissidence within her ranks predominantly due to her stances toward the European Union and the deeply unpopular poll tax which she introduced toward the end of her term. As a result, her leadership was contested by Michael Heseltine. Having survived the first vote – she still didn’t have the 15% majority votes needed – it became clear she would not have the votes needed to survive in the second vote and as such chose to resign as Prime Minister before the committee would have had to have remove her from office.
Lists of votes of confidence
| Date | Leader | Votes | |
| For | Against | ||
| 29th October 2003 | Iain Duncan Smith | 75 | 90 |
| 12th December 2018 | Theresa May | 200 | 117 |
| 6th June 2022 | Boris Johnson | 211 | 148 |
Party policy can be dictated by the 1922 committee with backbenchers able to voice their own opinions and the opinions of their constituents to help what should be a greater election mandate. With the committee being a platform to air grievances with party policy internally, it disparages issues from first being broadcast publicly, to instead ease a degree of compromise between party and MP alongside preventing a public squabble.
It can also promote party discipline. Whilst allowing for a broad number of backbenchers to consult with each other on policies and manifesto pledges, the overall aim is to form a consensus within the party. If consensus is met for but a few, especially on important clear-cut Conservative issues, for instance, how to have voted on the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. With the Conservative government under Theresa May in need of passing her Brexit bill in the House of Commons, in line with the whip system, that parliamentary vote was a three-line whip meaning that Conservative MPs had to vote for the bill or else face expulsion for not doing so. However, the whip system can still fail in; Tory MP Kenneth Clarke voted against the bill in 2019 regardless of his Rushcliffe constituency voting for Brexit. He was expelled.
Origins
The nature of its founding is often subject to confusion. Most suppose that, as suggested, the committee was founded in 1922 (at the Carlton Club meeting) yet it was not.
By 1922, the Conservative Party was unsure of its future, having been in coalition with the Liberal Party led by Prime Minister David Lloyd George since 1916, great division started to cause issues within the coalition government. Due to arising division, Tory MPs successfully demanded internally within the party that they split from the coalition government led by Lloyd George thus triggering the 1922 general election.
The Committee was formed the following year, in 1923 yet not by the same Conservative MPs who had dissolved the coalition government.
Instead, it was formed as a group compromising those of whom had been elected in the prior general election. Following the 1923 and 1924 elections, membership within the group grew synchronising with the resurgence of Tory presence in the House of Commons and by 1926 all backbenchers were invited into the group. Formally, it was to be referred to as the Conservative Private Members’ Committee – focusing on issues that affected most Tory members, rather than focusing fringe-rogue group issues.
Graham Brady
The current Chairman of the committee, Sir Graham Brady succeeded Sir Michael Spencer in 2010. In his time as chairman, he has overseen 5 UK Prime Ministers (Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, and Sunak) and 2 party leadership elections (Truss and Sunak).
He had previously resigned his position in 2019 to explore a bid for the leadership following Theresa May’s resignation but chose not to pursue the bid. Returning to the role on September 3rd, 2019, in a temporary capacity, he was later elected back to the position by the end of January 2020.
Whilst at this time, the UK political system was enduring a tumultuous period predominantly due to the effects of the EU referendum – Brady’s profile surged within the media. He had to address speculation of no confidence challenges explaining their significance, lead them when they occurred for both May and Johnson, and had the role of informing the nation of the results of the confidence votes. In the case of leadership elections that would later occur, he also decided the platform for the election. Whilst in 2022, the Conservative Party voted for Truss over Sunak for leadership, 45 days later following a disaster mini-budget and an abundance of ministerial resignations Truss had historically lost confidence in her government. Rumour of her resignation sparked when Brady was spotting sneaking out the back door of 10 Downing Street. Questions over another leadership election was squandered by Brady who urged political-steadiness and advocated for Sunak – as the defacto option to Truss – to be appointed as leader.
Committee constitutional matters
The 1922 Committee has an 18-member executive committee, whose members are elected by all Conservative MPs except those who are members of the Government, i.e., the electorate comprises all "backbench" Conservative MPs. Candidates need to be nominated by two Conservative colleagues, and it is a first-past-the-post voting system, meaning the person with the most votes in each category wins.
2010 Changes
On 19 May 2010, shortly after the Conservatives had formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, Prime Minister David Cameron suggested altering the committee to involve frontbench ministers in the recommendation forming process, angering some backbench MPs. On 20 May 2010, committee members voted to approve the change, with 168 votes in favour and 118 against. Many backbench party members criticised the move and voted against it, while ministers had argued such a change would be necessary to continue operating coherently as a party during its membership of a coalition government.
However, under Graham Brady, who became chairman in 2010, it was clarified shortly after that vote that although frontbenchers became eligible to attend meetings of the committee, only backbenchers would be able to vote for its officers and executive committee, similarly to the Parliamentary Labour Party.
References[edit]
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