Charles Walker (British politician)

Early life and education

Born in Henley-on-Thames, Walker was educated at The American School in London, followed by the University of Oregon in the United States, receiving a BSc in Political Science in 1990.

Career

Walker was a member of Wandsworth Council from 2002-06. He has pursued a career in marketing and communications and has held senior positions within a number of people focused businesses. He was on the Board of Directors of Blue Arrow, the staffing firm, which places upwards of 20,000 people into work each day. Walker belongs to the trade union Amicus.

He stood in Ealing North in 2001. In the 2005 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for Broxbourne, succeeding Dame Marion Roe.

Walker was one of the 23 MPs to sign the motion of no confidence in Speaker Michael Martin.

Walker sat on the Scottish Select Committee from 2005 to 2010 and was also a member of the Public Administration Select Committee from 2007 to 2010.

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 and in the same year was elected to the Conservative Party Board.

In December 2013 Walker was the only MP to confirm he would accept an 11% pay increase.

Walker was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for political service.

Following the 2015 general election, he was returned unopposed as chairman of the Procedure Select Committee.

Relationship with the Speaker

In October 2012, he was elected as chairman of the Procedure Committee, which decides on the process for election of a new Speaker of the House of Commons. In addition to his chairing duties, Walker is a member of the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (SCIPSA) and answers Parliamentary questions on behalf of the Committee. His championship of the pay rise and membership of the Committee led to him being described by the Daily Telegraph as being in with an outside chance of becoming speaker when John Bercow stands 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. Conservative MPs disliked John Bercow. Walker said that he had written a report on the subject "years ago" but although he had talked to William Hague 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.

Contribution to destigmatising mental health issues

Walker has lived with obsessive-compulsive disorder for more than 30 years, admitting the disability in 2012 whilst Labour's Kevan Jones simultaneously described his problems with depression. Both MPs were praised for historic speeches on a taboo subject, albeit one experienced by one in four people.

He has twice won The Spectator 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 on 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 The Guardian's "Stories of 2012".

In November 2013, he was awarded the President's Medal by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Personal life

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