The 92 Group is a right-wing grouping within the British Conservative Party. They are so named because they would meet at Conservative MP Sir Patrick Wall's home, 92 Cheyne Walk in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

.Colin Brown,
92 Group chairman survives challenge
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' (15 March 1994). It was founded in 1964 in order to "keep the Conservative Party conservative" and membership is by invitation only. During the period of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

's leadership of the Conservative Party, it was a prominent supporter of her policies. During

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

's premiership, it became a focus for Thatcherite MPs dissatisfied with his leadership. It was also prominent in supporting John Redwood's unsuccessful candidacy against Major for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995. Its first chairman was Wall, and John Townend was at one time chairman, as was Gerald Howarth. George Gardiner, David Maclean, Christopher Chope and

Edward Leigh Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (born 20 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gainsborough, previously Gainsborough and Horncastle, since 1983. Parliament's longes ...

have been members. In 1996 there were around one hundred members of the Group. They grouped together as a block vote in committee elections and to influence party policy.

Norman Tebbit Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, (born 29 March 1931) is a British retired politician. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment (1981–1 ...

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.Norman Tebbit, ''Upwardly Mobile'' (Futura, 1991), pp. 122–3. 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.

Notes

{{UK Conservative Party Organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK) Groups of British MPs Organizations established in 1964 1964 establishments in the United Kingdom