1922 Committee

In councils up and down the country and here at city hall the elected Conservatives all sit together when they have their weekly group meeting. This is the case when members of that group form the executive. In the house of commons the Conservatives did things differently, the members of the executive were excluded from the group meeting.

I have no idea whether there was any practical advantage to this separation but since the vote at 11.00 am today that separation has gone. Not everyone is happy about it, 118 Conservative MPs voted against the inclusion of the Front Bench team being admitted to the 1922 committee. Clearly I wasn't there but I understand the proposed change was presented with very little notice and almost no debate.

It is clear that David Cameron wants to get these housekeeping issues sorted out quickly so that he can focus on the job of governing the country and sorting out the economy. I can see more advantages of having a single party group meeting in the commons than having a partial group meeting but, just like the 55% rule, he needs to spend a little bit more time taking his friends and colleagues with him.