Bob Blackman is the Conservative MP for Harrow East, having first been elected to parliament in May 2010.

In the 2024 general election for Harrow East, Blackman received 25,466 votes, representing 53.3% of the vote share – the highest percentage share achieved by any Conservative candidate. The Labour candidate, Primesh Patel, received 13,786 votes (28.9%), while the Reform UK candidate, Roger Clark, secured 2,188 votes (4.6%). Blackman was duly elected with a majority of 11,680 votes.

Harrow East was the only seat in the country where the Conservatives exceeded 50% of the vote at the 2024 general election. It also recorded the second-largest majority of any Conservative-held constituency – behind only Richmond and Northallerton, the seat of then prime minister Rishi Sunak.

The Harrow East constituency is located in Outer North West London and includes areas such as Stanmore, Kenton, Harrow Weald, and Canons Park. It has a significant population of Indian descent. Held by Labour from 1997 to 2010, it has been represented by Blackman for the Conservatives since then.

Political Career

Blackman holds two significant backbench roles. He has served as chair of the influential 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers since July 2024 and as chair of the backbench business committee since September 2024.

The backbench business committee is a select committee of the House of Commons that has the responsibility for scheduling debates on days set aside for “backbench business”. Established in 2010 as part of the Wright reforms, its creation helped transfer some control of the parliamentary timetable from the government to backbench MPs for the first time.

By virtue of this role, Blackman sits on the liaison committee – the so-called “super committee” composed of the cross-party chairs of all the other commons select committees. It has a broad oversight role, but is best known for its questioning of the prime minister in sessions that take place two or three times a year.

On top of this, Blackman is a member of the House of Commons administration committee (since November 2024) – the committee responsible for overseeing the internal running of the House and the services provided to its members and their staff. Its primary role is to ensure that the facilities and administrative support on the parliamentary estate are effective, efficient, and meet the needs of a modern legislature.

Blackman’s role as chair of the 1922 committee places him in a key position representing the views of backbench Conservative MPs to the party leadership. The committee oversees the rules for leadership contests and votes of confidence in the party leader. The proverbial “men in grey suits” – a semi-official delegation from the 1922 committee informing a leader that their time is up – has become a recurring image in British political life, especially between the years 2018-2022. The committee is today best recognised for its role as the Conservative Party’s in-house assassination bureau.

In the election to the 1922 committee chairship, Blackman defeated Geoffrey Clifton-Brown by 61 votes to 37. He succeeded Graham Brady, whose tenure (2010-2024) lasted five different party leaders.

Blackman oversaw the 2024 race and the election of Kemi Badenoch as leader. Introducing Badenoch as leader for the first time on 2 November 2024, Blackman said another glass ceiling had been “shattered”.

He stated: “Isn’t it great that we’ve got another female leader, and isn’t it great that we are the first [British] party to have a Black leader… another glass ceiling shattered.”

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After Badenoch’s election, Blackman revealed that his committee had agreed to make it harder for Conservative MPs to oust the party’s leader by changing the rules for calling a vote of no confidence. He said the 1922 committee had increased the minimum number of letters required to trigger a vote, from 15% of the parliamentary party to a third.

Blackman told GB News: “It was 15%, it’s now 33.3 plus one. So from that perspective I’m not expecting to see any problems in that regard ever, actually.”

Blackman also said that the party now had a “great opportunity” to “rebuild trust” with the public and “get the parliamentary party working as one team”.

He added: “My job is to make sure that the parliamentary party is listened to by Kemi, and make sure that everyone is rowing in the same direction.”

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Blackman previously served as secretary of the 1922 committee from 2015 to 2024.

Blackman is also an officer of the Conservative Friends of Israel group, and has been part of several delegations to Israel. He serves as honorary vice chair of the Conservative Friends of India group.

Blackman introduced the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 as a private members’ bill (PMB). This legislation successfully changed the law regarding local authority duties towards homeless people. It introduced a duty on certain public authorities to refer service users who they think may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a housing authority. Blackman has described the act as his proudest political achievement.

In April 2025, Blackman said that since “the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 was passed, local authorities have prevented 1.4 million people from becoming homeless.”

In March 2025, Blackman called on the government to formally apologise for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, when the British Indian army fired on and killed hundreds of civilians in the Punjabi city (1919).

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A senior backbencher, Blackman has extensive previous select committee experience. He has been a member of the backbench business committee since 2012. He was a member of the housing, communities and local government committee (and its predecessors) from 2010 to 2024, and the procedure committee (2015-2019).

Blackman is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for British Hindus, India, fire safety and rescue, homelessness and Israel among others.

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Blackman delivered his maiden speech on 7 June 2010 during a debate on the constitution and home affairs. In it, he stated: “This government [The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition] will do one thing of vital importance for all those people: restore civil liberties in this country.

“The threat of identity cards, the threat of being detained for 28 days without charge, and the huge amounts of data on individual people who are innocent of any crime kept on police DNA databases – the police state that has started to grow in this country – will be swept away.”

Before entering parliament, Blackman was a member of the London Assembly for Brent & Harrow from 2004 to 2008, serving as Conservative group whip. He was previously a councillor on Brent Council for 24 years, serving as leader of the Conservative group (1990-2010) and leader of Brent Council from 1991 to 1996. He also served as deputy leader of the Council from 2006 to 2010.

Blackman unsuccessfully stood for parliament at the 1992, 1997 and 2005 general elections.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Tory leadership 2022 (I): Blackman supported Liz Truss’ candidacy in the Conservative Party’s July-September 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson, following the mass exodus of more than 60 frontbenchers.

Truss, the then-foreign secretary, campaigned on a platform of sweeping tax cuts. After finishing second in the final parliamentary ballot with 113 votes, she won the subsequent vote of the party membership with 81,326 votes (57.4%) and was appointed prime minister on 6 September.

Factional identity and party tradition

Common sense group: In the 2019-2024 parliament, Blackman was associated with the Common Sense Group (CSG) of socially conservative MPs. The CSG’s principal focus was to combat what it described as “woke” ideology. In 2021, it published a manifesto, Common Sense: Conservative Thinking for a Post-Liberal Age, which took aim at the Equality Act 2010, the supreme court, British broadcasters and environmentalist direct action group Extinction Rebellion. Veteran Conservative MP Sir John Hayes served as the group’s chair.

In a 2020 open letter published in the Daily Telegraph, MPs of the Common Sense Group said the faction had formed to “speak for the silent majority of voters tired of being patronised by elitist bourgeois liberals whenever issues such as immigration or law and order are raised.”

Rwanda rebellion (amendments): In January 2024, Blackman was one of around 60 Conservative MPs who supported amendments to the government’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. The amendments, proposed by Conservative MPs Sir Bill Cash and Robert Jenrick, sought to strengthen the proposed legislation by limiting the ability of individual asylum seekers to prevent their deportation to Rwanda, under the terms of the government’s flagship removals scheme. The rebellion was composed of Tory MPs on the right of the party.

European Research Group: Blackman has been associated with the European Research Group (ERG). During the Conservative Party’s last stint in government, the ERG emerged as a highly influential Tory faction composed of staunchly eurosceptic MPs. Founded in 1993, the group played a pivotal role in shaping the UK’s exit from the European Union, consistently advocating for a “hard” Brexit.

Its members were generally and often stridently critical of the withdrawal agreement negotiated by Theresa May. Chaired variously by Mark Francois, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Steve Baker and Suella Braverman, the group proved instrumental in May’s downfall as prime minister.

Conservative Way Forward: Blackman has been associated with the Conservative Way Forward (CWF) grouping of Thatcherite MPs. CWF was founded in 1991 by supporters of Margaret Thatcher, aiming to “defend and build upon [her] achievements… and to adapt the principles of her era in government to modern concerns and challenges”. In July 2022, the group was relaunched by Tory MP Steve Baker.

Blue Collar Conservatives: Blackman was previously listed as a member of the Blue Collar Conservatives group. This faction within the Conservative party was founded in 2012 by the former cabinet minister Esther McVey, but came to greater prominence following the 2019 general election. The group aimed to “champion working people and develop a conservative agenda to benefit the voters and communities most neglected by Labour”. In October 2022, McVey was succeeded by Lee Anderson as the group’s chair.

Bright Blue: Blackman is listed as a parliamentary supporter of Bright Blue, an independent centre-right think tank and membership organisation that champions liberal conservatism in the UK. Since its founding in 2014, the organisation has expanded its reach through a new cross-party strategy.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Blackman supported leave in the 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU), and therefore disagreed with a majority of constituents, 52.5% of whom voted to remain.

Article 50: In February 2017, Blackman voted in favour of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading.

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Blackman voted against the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the ten-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union.

Assisted dying

Blackman voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Same-sex marriage (2013): In February 2013, Blackman was one of the 139 Conservative MPs to vote against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at its second reading. The landmark piece of legislation, which received its second reading by 400 votes to 175, legalised marriage for same-sex couples in England and Wales.

In December 2012, when the Conservative Party launched a consultation into legalising same-sex marriages, Blackman suggested that the prime minister, David Cameron, should resurrect section 28.

Speaking to BBC News, Blackman argued that Cameron’s support for same-sex marriages was wrong on “principle”

He added: “A very small number of people have same-sex relationships where children are involved… there may be some. The key point is what is happening in schools particularly to very young children, what they’re educated and what they’re told.

“I was one of those that strongly believed that section 28 was the right rules to have in school so that we should not promote in any way shape or form promote same-sex relationships, I still abide by that and feel that’s the right way forward, and if teachers are forced to say same-sex relationships are equivalent to heterosexual relationships I’d be very opposed to that.”

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Blackman voted against a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Foreign policy and security

Trident renewal (2016): Blackman voted in favour of a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons.

Syria airstrikes (2015): Blackman voted in favour of a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a ten-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Palestinian recognition vote (2014): In October 2014, Blackman was one of six Conservative MPs to vote against recognising Palestine as a state. The motion, passed by 274 votes to 12 after it was roundly supported by Labour MPs, called on the government to “recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution”.

Syria airstrikes (2013): Blackman voted in favour of the government’s motion on the principle of military intervention in Syria in August 2013. The government motion was defeated by 285 votes to 272, a move which effectively ruled out UK participation in any US-led military strikes.

Civil liberties

Covid passes vote (2021): Blackman was one of 99 Conservative MPs to vote against Covid passes in England in December 2021.

Covid passes campaign (2021): Blackman was one of over 70 MPs and peers who launched a cross-party campaign against the “divisive and discriminatory use” of Covid passes in April 2021. The campaign was triggered by government reviews into “vaccine passports”, which signatories argued would create a two-tier society and infringe upon fundamental civil liberties.

Before Politics

Born Robert John Blackman on 26 April 1956 in Kensington, London, he attended Preston Manor High School, where he was Head Boy. He studied at the University of Liverpool, where he was president of the Students’ Union.

Before entering politics full-time, Blackman worked for the technology company Unisys in sales. He then had a long career at BT. He served as Regulatory Compliance Manager for BT from 1998 until his election to parliament in 2010.

Personal Life

Blackman is married to Nicola Blackman, who is a Conservative councillor in the London Borough of Harrow. According to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests (January 2026), he employs his wife Nicola as his office manager.

Trivia

Following the 2019 and 2024 general elections, Blackman took the oath of allegiance on both the King James Bible and the Bhagavad Gita multiple times – a nod to his constituency’s large Hindu population.

Blackman was awarded a CBE in the 2023 king’s birthday honours for political and public service.

In 2020, Blackman was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honours.

Blackman enjoys rock music, bridge and chess. He supports Tottenham Hotspur as a season ticket-holder.