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| East Anglian Daily Times, December 2003 |
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| David Ruffley has become officially a man in a grey suit. The 41-year-old MP for Bury St Edmunds has been elected to the Committee of the influential 1922 Committee, the backbench group to which all Conservatives in the House belong. |
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| With the elevation to Michael Howard's team of Sir Nicholas Soames and John Bercow, the 1922 had to fill vacancies among its officers and Mr Ruffley - a key ally of possible future leader David Davis - was asked to stand. |
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| The Committee used to play a pivotal role in the election of Tory leaders - its name harks back to the great MPs' coup of October 23, 1922 at the Carlton Club when the tories broke ranks with their post-war coalition Liberal Party allies, became an independent party in the Commons once more, sacked leader Austen Chamberlain, and propelled Andrew Bonar Law to the leadership and into 10 Downing Street. |
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| Law won the General Election, defeating the liberals who were never to hold office again as the Labour Party emerged to become the alternative to the Conservatives for the rest of the 20th Century. |
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| In these days of great Tory democracy, where the paid-up members are supposed to have the final say in who becomes leader, the 1922 is more of a sounding board for expressions of exasperation among MPs about the leader. |
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| The men in grey suits can still kill a leader, as Iain Duncan Smith found out to his cost just a few weeks ago. He never had the chance to appeal to the membership at large - the MPs decided to get rid of him and that was that. |
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