Sir Charles Ashley Rupert Walker (born 11 September 1967) is a British politician who served as chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee from 2012 to 2019. A member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, he has been

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Broxbourne Broxbourne is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Hoddesdon, in the Broxbourne district, in Hertfordshire, England, north of London, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 I ...

in Hertfordshire since 2005.

Early life and career

Born in Henley-on-Thames in September 1967, Walker was educated at

The American School in London The American School in London (ASL) is a private, independent school in St John's Wood, London, England, for students from kindergarten through high school. The school's mission statement is: "The American School in London empowers each student ...

, followed by the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in the United States, receiving a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Political Science in 1990. Walker pursued a career in marketing and communications and held senior positions within a number of businesses. He was on the board of directors of

Blue Arrow Blue Arrow Limited is a United Kingdom based employment and recruitment agency that places individual jobseekers in temporary and/or permanent catering, driving industrial and office roles across the hospitality, manufacturing, public service, ...

. He belonged to the trade union Amicus. Walker was a member of

Wandsworth Council Wandsworth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Wandsworth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Wandsworth is divided into 20 wards, e ...

from 2002 to 2006. He had previously stood unsuccessfully in

Ealing North Ealing North is a constituency, created in 1950. Since the 2019 general election, it has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by James Murray of the Labour Co-operative party. History Straddling the Western Avenue ...

at the 2001 general election.

Parliamentary career

Early parliamentary career: 2005–2012

At the 2005 general election, Walker was elected as Member of Parliament for

. Upon election, he sat on the

Scottish Select Committee The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Office of the Secretary of S ...

from 2005 to 2010 and was also a member of the Public Administration Select Committee from 2007 to 2010. Walker was one of the 23 MPs to sign the

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

in Speaker Michael Martin. In 2011, Walker made what is believed by some to be the shortest Parliamentary speech in history, when he made a four-word contribution in a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

debate on

membership Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

: "If not now, when?" (referring to the option of a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the issue) He joined the Panel of Chairs in 2010 and was co-chair of the Education Bill that went through committee in 2011. In May 2010, he was elected vice-chairman of the

1922 Committee The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The committee, consisting of all Conservative backbench member ...

and in the same year was elected to the

Conservative Party Board The Conservative Party Board is the national governing body of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for operational matters such as fundraising, membership, candidates, and internal elections. It is made up of members f ...

House of Commons Procedure Committee: 2012–2019

In October 2012, Walker was elected as chair of the

Procedure Committee The Procedure Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider the practice and procedure of the House in the conduct of public business. The committee is ...

, which decides on the process for election of a new

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

. In addition to his chairing duties, Walker is a member of the

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority The Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, or 'SCIPSA', is a body created under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 to scrutinise the UK's Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. In July 2013, Walker voted in favour of extending same-sex marriage to England and Wales. In December 2013, Walker was the only MP to confirm he would accept an 11% pay increase. His championship of the pay rise and membership of the committee led to him being described by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' as being in with an outside chance of becoming

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

when

John Bercow John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior t ...

stood down. In the last parliamentary session before the 2015 general election, Walker explained what he knew about the Government decision to force a vote on changing the rules for electing a speaker for the next Parliament, in order to remove the then-Speaker

. Walker said he had written a report on the subject "years ago" but although he had talked to

William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Michael Gove that week, neither had told him their objectives. He had only found out via the grapevine, and stated that he would rather be "an honourable fool" than part of a plot. The government lost the vote and Walker received a standing ovation. Following the 2015 general election, Walker was returned unopposed as chair of the

. Walker was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for political service, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in Theresa May's resignation honours on 10 September 2019, "for political and public service". In May 2019, Walker and

Cheryl Gillan Dame Cheryl Elise Kendall Gillan (; 21 April 1952 – 4 April 2021) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chesham and Amersham from 1992 until her death in 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she served a ...

became acting chairs of the

after

Graham Brady Sir Graham Stuart Brady (born 20 May 1967) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Altrincham and Sale West since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Chairman of the 1922 Committee since 20 ...

resigned to consider standing in the leadership contest to succeed

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

as Conservative leader. They stood down when Brady returned to the role in September of that year.

Criticisms of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions: 2020–2021

In response to the Johnson government's attempt to control

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

through a three tier system, Walker said in October 2020 that the government seemed to think it could "abolish death". He also accused the government's

Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is a British Government body that advises central government in emergencies. It is usually chaired by the United Kingdom's Chief Scientific Adviser, currently Sir Patrick Vallance. Speciali ...

of choosing to "ramp up" the "fear factor" regarding the disease. Regarding the second tier regulations in November, Walker said "As we drift further into an authoritarian coercive state, the only legal mechanism left open to me is to vote against that legislation. The people of this country will never, ever forgive the political class for criminalising parents seeing children." In November 2020, Walker called police officers a "disgrace" for enforcing government laws surrounding COVID-19 by arresting a 72-year-old woman who was "peacefully protesting" and who was charged under the Coronavirus Act. At the time, Walker called for the

Constitution of the United Kingdom The constitution of the United Kingdom or British constitution comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political body. Unlike in most countries, no attemp ...

to be codified into a single written document (it is currently

uncodified In law, codification is the process of collecting and restating the law of a jurisdiction in certain areas, usually by subject, forming a legal code, i.e. a codex (book) of law. Codification is one of the Civil law (legal system)#Codification, d ...

) to prevent further curbs on civil liberties. On 25 March 2021, following a debate on the six-month extension of emergency powers during the

COVID-19 lockdown Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

, Walker made a widely reported speech in which he said: The speech was described as "surreal" by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', "bizarre" by ''

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 publish ...

'', "astonishing" by ''

Yahoo Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...

'', and "odd" by ''

indy100 ''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 ...

''. On 18 April 2021, Walker published an op-ed in ''

'' in which he stated his concern about the rumoured COVID vaccine passports, specifically by drawing parallels to other public health concerns not managed in the same way, such as obesity.

Retirement from the House of Commons: 2022–present

On 1 February 2022, Walker announced he would be standing down at the next general election, saying there had been "a lot of grief and pain" in the country which had meant politics had become a "pretty toxic environment". Walker endorsed

Penny Mordaunt Penelope Mary Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British politician who has been Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) ...

during the

July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...

. He became the fifth Conservative MP to publicly call for the Prime Minister

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...

to resign. During the

government crisis A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

on 19 October 2022, Walker called the

Truss ministry Liz Truss was invited by Queen Elizabeth II—two days before the monarch's death—to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister of the United Kingdom on 6 September 2022. Johnson resigned as leader of the Conservative Party the previous day a ...

"a shambles and a disgrace... utterly appalling", commenting of its supporters that he had "had enough of talentless people" for whom "it’s in their own personal interest to achieve a ministerial position".

Recognition

In 2012, in a debate in Parliament on

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

issues and their "

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

", Walker spoke about his 30-year experience of

obsessive–compulsive disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental and behavioral disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts and/or feels the need to perform certain routines repeatedly to the extent where it induces distress or impairs general ...

, alongside the Labour MP

Kevan Jones Kevan David Jones (born 25 April 1964) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Durham since 2001. He served as a defence minister under Gordon Brown, and resigned as a shadow defence minister ...

, who spoke about his own experience of having depression. Walker and Jones were both later praised for their speeches by '' Time to Change'', a mental health anti- stigma campaign run by charities Mind and

Rethink Mental Illness Rethink Mental Illness is a mental health charity in England. The organisation was founded in 1972 by John Pringle whose son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The operating name of 'Rethink' was adopted in 2002, and expanded to 'Rethink' Mental Il ...

. Walker has twice won ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' Speech of the Year at its annual Parliamentarian of the Year Awards: the first time in 2011 and the second time in 2012 when he shared the award with Kevan Jones. He was also one of ''The Spectator''s Parliamentarians of the Year in 2013. In 2012, he was chosen as one of the ''Telegraph''s "50 Great Britons" for that year and was also one of ''

''s "Stories of 2012". He was awarded the President's Medal by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in November 2013.Roll of Honour July 2020
''www.rcpsych.ac.uk'', accessed 11 February 2021

Personal life

Walker is the stepson of middle-distance runner and former Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chataway. He is married and has three children.

Electoral history

References

External links

Official website
*
BBC profile
at Democracy Live
Official channel
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Charles 1967 births Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Wandsworth Living people Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People with obsessive–compulsive disorder Politicians awarded knighthoods UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present University of Oregon alumni