92 Committee

The 92 Committee, an internal Conservative Party pressure group, was established in 1964 at a dinner at 92 Cheyne Walk, the London home of its first Chairman, Patrick Wall MP. The other original members were the MPs Sir John Hall, Sir Frederic Bennett, Victor Godhew, Sir Bryant Godman Irving and William Clark. The Committee had one main aim, to keep the Conservative Party conservative, and to this end, put forward its members as officers on internal Party Committees, as well as inviting Party leaders and senior Party figures to dinner. Margaret Thatcher for example dined with the Committee at 92 Cheyne Walk in 1978. The Conservative victory in the 1979 general election resulted in six of its members being appointed Ministers, including Norman Tebbit, Rhodes Boyson and Marcus Fox. Its influence within the Party reached a peak in the early 1980s. Its members were appointed to a record number of Party Committees and it became known as the Prime Minister's 'Praetorian Guard'.

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