Kingmaker: Lord Graham Brady's 'tell all' new memoir on life during the Conservative's rule

Lord Graham Brady's been speaking to ITV Granada Reports political correspondent Lise McNally at the Conservative party's conference in Birmingham.

He is the former Member of Parliament who for many years was the leader of a group of backbench MPs with the power to choose not just new leaders of the Conservative Party but Prime Ministers too.

Lord Graham Brady, the former MP for Sale and Altrincham West, presided over the influential 1922 committee.

Over 14 years he saw five Prime Ministers, the EU referendum, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

It is fair to say his time in office has been busy and his new memoir is aptly called "Kingmaker".

Lord Brady said he learned "early on" to keep his counsel in the role, but there were now "important things to get on record".

He said he also wanted to "dispel some myths", as some people had used his taciturn approach "to speculate and claim certain things".

Lord Brady was also keen to correct the "false rumour" Rishi Sunak called the General Election early because he was facing an imminent vote of no confidence.

"As I revealed in the book, I had 10 letters in my safe, not the 53 that would be necessary to trigger a vote," he said.

"Rishi Sunak did not call an election early because he was facing imminent vote of no confidence."

Much of Lord Brady's work in Westminster largely played out in the shadows. He saw much, and said little but through his memoirs he is now shedding some light on one of the wildest periods in political history

Lord Brady said: "I've kept diaries through the whole of my time in Parliament over nearly three decades.

"And of course, I never expected to have quite such an exciting period as the years of turbulence over the last few years.

"But during those times, the number of people who stopped me in the street saying, 'I do hope you're going to write a book'. I felt I ought to oblige.

"I think I've put some things which will be of value and interest to political scientists and historians as well."

Historians studying the last few years will certainly be kept busy.

Who is Lord Graham Brady?

Born in Salford in 1967, Lord Brady first became active in the Conservative Party aged just 16.

In 1997, shortly before his 30th birthday, he was elected MP for Altrincham and Sale West in Greater Manchester, becoming what was then the party's youngest MP.

In 2010, he was elected chairman of the 1922 Committee, a role he held unchallenged for 14 years making him the longest serving chairman in the committee's history.

The group - known in Westminster as the "men in grey suits" - meets weekly and discusses the view of the party's backbench MPs.