Sir John Major steps down as president of the Bow Group

As one of the oldest Conservative think tanks, the Bow Group has a prestigious roll call of former chairmen who include Michael Howard, Norman Lamont and Peter Lilley.

Now, Mr S hears that times are a-changing at the organisation, with the group’s president Sir John Major stepping down. His departure comes after an eventful few years for the think tank and its colourful chairman Ben Harris-Quinney since Major joined two years ago.

Harris-Quinney became embroiled in a spat with Iain Dale after the broadcaster claimed in a post on ConservativeHome that Harris-Quinney was a ‘self-publicist’ whose work at the organisation was leaving many former Bow-Groupers ‘horrified’.

Curiously, there appears now to be little mention of Major on the Bow Group website.

A spokesman for Major says that the former Prime Minister made the decision to step down this summer as a result of his increasingly busy schedule. ‘Due to the scale of Sir John’s other commitments including his work as chairman of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust he was unable to continue as president,’ a spokesman says.

Harris-Quinney adds that the group now has a board of patrons in place of a president: ‘Sir John was appointed President for the Bow Group’s 60th anniversary year, though as per his wishes he stayed for two years. The Bow Group now reverts back to its previous and more traditional collegiate structure, in reforming of our board to now include new Patrons in Dr David Starkey & Professor Roger Scruton,’ he says.