The92 Group is a right-wing grouping within theBritish Conservative Party.[1] They are so named because they would meet at Conservative MP SirPatrick Wall's home, 92 Cheyne Walk inChelsea, London.[2] It was founded in 1964 in order to "keep the Conservative Party conservative" and membership is by invitation only.[3] During the period ofMargaret Thatcher's leadership of the Conservative Party, it was a prominent supporter of her policies. DuringJohn Major's premiership, it became a focus for Thatcherite MPs dissatisfied with his leadership. It was also prominent in supportingJohn Redwood's unsuccessful candidacy against Major for theleadership of the Conservative Party in 1995.[4]
Its first chairman was Wall, andJohn Townend was at one time chairman, as wasGerald Howarth.George Gardiner,David Maclean,Christopher Chope andEdward Leigh have been members. In 1996 there were around one hundred members of the Group.[5] They grouped together as a block vote in committee elections and to influence party policy.Norman Tebbit records in his memoirs that shortly after being elected an MP in 1970, he was elected to the party's backbench committee on housing policy, even though he was virtually unknown to most MPs. However, at committee election times, the group met to agree on a slate of candidates they were expected to support, thus explaining Tebbit's success.[6]
Gardiner as chairman promoted 92 Group members for elections to Conservative backbench committees. Important members of the Group were therefore interviewed by the media during Major's premiership to represent Conservative backbench opinion.[2]