Sir Graham Brady was the MP for Altrincham and Sale West from 1997 to 2024 and was the Chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs from 2010 to 2024. The 1922 Committee is the principal conduit for communication between Conservative MPs and the Prime Minister and Conservative Ministers and advises the Prime Minister on the mood of the party whilst ensuring that Ministers have an opportunity to speak to colleagues and to listen to their views on policy. Graham was given a knighthood in 2018 for political and public service.
Graham is well known to be independent minded and a champion of state grammar schools, having resigned from the front bench in 2007 to campaign in support of selective education. He was awarded ‘Backbencher of the Year’ by The Spectator in 2010.
Graham has previously served as a shadow minister, holding the schools, employment, as well as the Europe brief. Graham also served on the Education and Employment Select Committee from 1997-2001 and the Treasury Select Committee from 2007-2010.
Prior to his election in 1997, Graham was Public Affairs Director of the Waterfront Partnership. He had previously worked at the Centre for Policy Studies and Shandwick Plc. Prior to his election to Parliament he co-authored the CPS pamphlet: ‘Towards an Employees Charter, away from Collective Bargaining’. He became a Deputy Chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies in 2016 and was made a Freeman of Altrincham in the same year. Graham studied law at Durham University. He is married to Victoria and they have a daughter and a son.