Graham Brady

A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Chairman of the 1922 Committee since 2010, except for a brief period in 2019.

During his tenure as 1922 Committee chairman, Brady has overseen the election of three Conservative Party leaders and Prime Ministers (Theresa May, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak) as well as votes of no confidence into May and Boris Johnson.

On 7 March 2023, Brady announced that he would not seek re-election at the next general election.

He was a member of the executive of the 1922 Committee from 1998 to 2000.

He became a member of the Treasury Select Committee and rejoined the executive of the 1922 Committee in 2007.

Sir Graham Stuart Brady (born 20 May 1967) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Altrincham and Sale West since 1997.

Graham Brady was born on 20 May 1967 in Salford, Lancashire.

He served as Chairman of the Durham University Conservative Association (DUCA) for the 1987–1988 academic year and was one of six students elected to represent Durham at the annual NUS conference.

He served additionally as Chairman of Northern Area Conservative Students (1987–1989) and as a member of the Conservative Party's National Union Executive Committee (1988–1989).

He was educated at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, before studying Law at the University of Durham, at St Aidan's College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1989.

Brady was highly active in politics as a student.

Brady was appointed a consultant in public relations with Shandwick plc in 1989.

He joined the Centre for Policy Studies in 1990.

He was appointed director of public affairs at the Waterfront Partnership in 1992, where he remained until he was elected to the House of Commons in 1997.

He was vice-chairman of the East Berkshire Conservative Association from 1993 to 1995.

Brady was selected to contest the Altrincham and Sale West, following the retirement of the Conservative MP Fergus Montgomery.

Brady was elected as MP for Altrincham and Sale West at the 1997 general election with 43.2% of the vote and a majority of 1,505.

He was the youngest Conservative MP to be elected in 1997, having been elected just before his 30th birthday.

In the party leadership election that followed, Brady supported Michael Howard.

Brady made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 2 June 1997.

From 1997 to 2001 he was a member of the Education and Employment Select Committee and its Employment Sub-Committee.

He was joint secretary of the Conservative Party Committee for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2000.

In 1998 Brady made enquiries to John Bourn, at the time Comptroller and Auditor General, on his decision not to publish a National Audit Office report on the controversial Al-Yamamah arms deal.

The same year, Brady was one of only 13 Conservative MPs who voted in favour of an equal age of consent.

Brady became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Michael Ancram in 1999.

He was made an Opposition Whip by William Hague in 2000.

In February 2000, Brady complained about anti-grammar school literature circulated to parents in Altrincham by Michael Evans, then head of Trinity Church of England High School, arguing that this violated rules about public funds being used for campaign material – a complaint subsequently upheld by Secretary of State for Education David Blunkett.

That same year Brady became an opposition spokesman on Education and Employment.

Brady was re-elected as MP for Altrincham and Sale West at the 2001 general election with an increased vote share of 46.2% and an increased majority of 2,941.

Following the election, Brady continued as an opposition spokesman on Education and Skills under the leadership of both Hague and Iain Duncan Smith.

He became the PPS to the Leader of the Opposition, Michael Howard, in 2003, and an opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and Shadow Europe Minister in 2004.

From 2004 to 2005 he was a member of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee and its Urban Affairs Sub-Committee.

At the 2005 general election, Brady was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 46.4% and an increased majority of 7,159.

He was vice-chair of the all-party Montserrat Group from 2006.

Brady served as a Shadow Minister under four Conservative leaders before resigning in 2007 in protest at David Cameron's opposition to grammar schools.

On 29 May 2007, Brady resigned his post as Shadow Minister for Europe in protest at Conservative leader David Cameron's opposition to grammar schools.

He told the BBC that "faced with a choice between a front bench position that I have loved and doing what I believe to be right for my constituents and for the many hundreds of thousands of families who are ill-served by state education in this country, there is in conscience only one option open to me", and argued that "grammar schools in selective areas are exactly the motor that does drive social mobility more effectively than comprehensive areas".

Brady's own constituency has retained a selective rather than comprehensive education system.

Brady was secretary of the all-party Fluoridation Group and Infrastructure Group from 2008.

On 1 December 2010, Brady was voted "Backbencher of the Year" by The Spectator at its annual parliamentary awards.