Charles walker mp biography of donald

Charles Walker is a self-appointed champion of the backbenchers. “Parliament is a much greater institution than Government,” declares the Conservative MP for Broxbourne.

Eloquent and passionate about British democracy, he says: “I think Parliament is probably this country’s greatest achievement. We dismiss it so lightly now; we think Government is the only game in town, that that is the end game, but in fact Parliament underpins it all.”

Preferring the role of backbench MP as guardian of democracy and scrutineer of the executive, Walker despairs of “this fiction and modern narrative that we’re all just here waiting for promotion”.

He exclaims: “How can you be promoted from being a Member of Parliament? You can be asked to serve as a Minister of the Crown, but where did we get the idea that this is kind of a holding tank for people’s pure career aspirations?”

Full of historical nuggets about Westminster, he points out that up until the turn of the twentieth century, an MP tapped to become a minister would, by convention, have to offer a constituency by-election: a formality that nodded to the natural conflict of interest between the two roles.

He adds: “Now those sort of dividing lines don’t exist anymore. Parliament is seen as a vehicle of the Crown.”

The sandy-haired politician is well suited to his role as vice-chairman of the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers, which he describes as a “safety valve for backbench issues”.

It also dovetails well with his role as chair of the Procedure Committee, which considers the practice and procedure of the Commons in the conduct of public business.

Concerned about the lack of capacity for MPs to have their say in time-limited debates on important issues of the day, and particular military affairs, Walker wants to introduce provisions for “injury time” in the Commons – extra time that lies outside the usual hours

We’re joined by Sir Charles Walker, who represented Broxbourne for the Tories for almost 20 years.

Jackie Long: What does it feel like now to be out of power after so long? A terrible, terrible night for your party.

Sir Charles Walker: It was an awful night for the Conservative Party. There is no way of sugarcoating the pill. Unless I say that Electoral Calculus had us on 61 seats on Wednesday in its final poll of polls, and we managed to come back with 122. But that is still a woeful performance.

Jackie Long: But you’d be grasping at straws there.

Sir Charles Walker: I’m really not saying this was a good night in any way. It wasn’t a good night. I’m devastated for my colleagues who’ve lost their seats, their staff, the prime minister. It’s just been a really, really bad, bad night for the Conservative party.

Jackie Long: Former prime minister gone, Theresa May’s seat is gone, David Cameron’s seat gone. I mean, the level and the nature of this defeat is enormous, isn’t it?

Sir Charles Walker: It’s huge. I think it’s the greatest defeat the Conservative Party has ever suffered in its history. Now, I think we can come back from it, but that’s going to require a huge amount of discipline over the weeks, months and years ahead. I’m just not sure my party has the capacity to demonstrate discipline.

Jackie Long: First of all, it also requires an understanding of where you went wrong and at what point you went wrong. Rishi Sunak today looking and sounding devastated, apologising to the British people. He says he takes full responsibility for the loss. But it’s beyond one campaign, isn’t it, here?

Sir Charles Walker: This is a collective enterprise. The Conservative Party must take responsibility for this loss. The Conservative Party put Boris Johnson into Number 10. We did a deal with the devil there. Boris has huge, huge political skills but he also came with huge, hug

Two MPs have spoken out about their mental health problems in an effort to break the "taboo" around the issue.

Tory MP Charles Walker told MPs he was a "practising fruitcake" as he described how he had lived with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) for more than 30 years.

His Labour colleague Kevan Jones told of his battle with depression and the "difficult" decision to speak out.

The pair earned praise from charities for their "historic" speeches.

MPs were told by Lib Dem Health Minister Paul Burstow that mental health was a "taboo subject" - even though one in four people in the UK will suffer from mental health problems at some point in their lives.

Speaking about his own experiences with OCD, Mr Walker, MP for Broxbourne, said: "On occasions it is manageable and, on occasions, it becomes quite difficult. It takes you to some quite dark places.

"I operate by the rule of four. So I have to do everything in evens.

"I have to wash my hands four times. I have to go in and out of a room four times. My wife and children often say I resemble an extra from Riverdance as I bounce in and out of a room."

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