Discussions over the establishment of a Bradford & District Group of the Conservative Commonwealth Council began in July 1953, later expanding to cover the whole of the Yorkshire Area, with a specialised sub-Group which would focus on the wool trade and the economic and political implications of raw wool and trade with Commonwealth and Colonial countries. A meeting to discuss the this was held at the Yorkshire Area Office on 15th December 1953 and its inauguration was initially planned for April 1954, but this proved abortive. A subsequent meeting of the proposed Group was held on 25th November 1954, under the chairmanship of General Sir Roy Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. After a further meeting held on 31st January 1955 the Yorkshire Group was duly formed. However, an attempt in November 1955 to set up sub-Groups on 'Yorkshire textiles and the Commonwealth', 'Yorkshire Engineering and the Commonwealth', and 'Problems of populating the Dominions', failed due to lack of interest. In December 1957 General Bucher resigned as chairman.