Graham Brady on dispatching PMs, Tory chaos and who he's backing for leader
| Updated:
Lord Graham Brady tells The News Agents about the most difficult conversation he had to have as chair of the 1922 Committee, and discusses what went wrong for the Tories.
Listen to this article
Read time: 4 minutes
In brief…
- Emily and Lewis sit down with Lord Graham Brady, the former chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs.
- He spills on his relationship with Rishi Sunak and explains why he is backing Kemi Badenoch in the Tory leadership race.
- Emily asks him what it was like being the “voice of sanity” during the 14 years of Tory “chaos”, and whether anything unites him to this turbulence.
The top Tory who survived five Conservative leaders
What’s the story?
Back in July, 14 years of Conservative rule came to an end. Over the course of that time, we have seen five prime ministers, botched Brexit deals, votes of no confidence, resignations and all the rest of it.
In other words…chaos.
Lord Graham Brady, former chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbench MPs, was there for the whole thing.
As chair of the committee, he oversaw the election of party leaders and Conservative Party-led votes of confidence.
In his new memoir, Kingmaker, he lifts the lid on life in the heart of Westminster and his experience in the role.
Brady tells Emily and Lewis what it was like presiding over so many Prime Ministers’ exits, who he wants to be the next one, and everything in between.
Did Brady ‘dispatch’ of Prime Ministers?
With so many different Prime Ministers in a short space of time, Emily puts to Brady: “It felt like you wore the coat of the Tory party undertaker, that you were the executioner, perhaps that you dispatched Prime Ministers.”
Brady says it was the circumstances of the last few years that have been remarkable, leading to that “very unusually rapid turnover of leaders”, rather than any particular role he played himself.
In fact, rather than him doing the executing, Brady says successive Prime Ministers “dispatched themselves”.
That is, with the exception of Rishi Sunak, who was voted out by the electorate. Brady says he found Sunak “very human, very natural” with “almost a complete absence of ego”.
David Cameron, meanwhile, chose to walk away on his own accord after the Brexit referendum. Theresa May resigned, despite winning a confidence vote, after failing to get support for her proposed Brexit deal.
“The most difficult conversations were with Theresa May when she was going to have to leave office,” Brady says.
“The essential dilemma was that whilst most colleagues had decided her position was untenable, there was a very significant number of us who wanted to try to ensure that she could go with some dignity.”
Boris Johnson quit in the aftermath of the Chris Pincher case as a flurry of top Tories resigned in protest.
When Brady told Johnson he thought it would be untenable for him to stay as leader, the then PM reportedly suggested calling a general election.
“I think that certainly Boris did think that the 80 seat majority was very much a personal mandate”, Brady says.
And of course, we all remember Liz Truss.
Brady says: “In some ways that was the easiest of the conversations I had, because when I went to see her, she'd already arrived at exactly the same conclusion that I had.”
He later adds that rarely have we seen such immediate catalysts bringing a Prime Minister down than Truss’ disastrous mini budget. It was later a vote over a non-binding opposition day debate relating to fracking, that proved to be the final nail in the coffin.
Brady says: “It was very odd. I'd seen Liz truss earlier that day, and I'd said I didn't think it was wise to make the fracking vote a vote of confidence where the whip would be removed from any Conservative who voted with the Labour Party.”
He describes that day as “the most remarkable scene of chaos I've seen in 27 years in the House of Commons.”
Is there something that unites Brady to 14 years of Tory chaos?
Brady, Emily says, was supposed to be this “keep calm and carry on voice”, a “voice of sanity” in his role as 1922 committee chair.
But if you step back and say “you've been in that job 14 years and you've seen five prime ministers, it’s not actually a great track record”, Emily says.
So is there something that links Brady to the turbulence in the Tory Party, she asks.
He hits back: “I think I did what I could to try to advise those Prime Ministers in a way that might have helped to extend their period in an office.
“I then tried to make sure we had an efficient process for replacing them when they went.”
Who is he backing in the Tory leadership race?
Brady has thrown his weight behind Kemi Badenoch, who had made it to the final round in the Tory leadership race alongside Robert Jenrick.
“I've known Kemi for a long time, and I think she has an authenticity which is appealing, and I think that's something that the voting public is very keen to see is authenticity”, he says.
But Lewis points out that one of potential flaws, according to her critics, is that she is “too combustible” and “starts fights unnecessarily, perhaps even with herself.”
Brady says: “I think that there is the balance, and it's the appeal as well… real conviction, belief.”
“I would also add that if she's successful in this election, then she's probably got nearly five years as leader of the opposition.”
Listen to the full discussion on The News Agents.
