Labor party Senator from Victoria. Deputy Labor Leader in the Senate. Convenor of the right faction in the Caucus.

Andre Clark wrote in the Financial Review of 18 March 2006: "Born in the Uk, and raised in Canberra in a conservtive Catholic family, Conroyu attended Daramalan College, run by thge Sacred Heart order, and later secured an economics degree from the Australian National University. His first job was doing research for the Metal Trades Industry Association, an employer body later absorbed into the Australian Industries Group. Conroy then worked on the staff of Ros Kelly, the federal Labor member for the seat of Canberra, who became a senior minister in the Hawke and Keating cabinets. While working for KJelly, Conroy displayed his aptitude for factional organisation. Naturally drawn to the right, he marshalled support in Labor branches in the ACT to neutralise a powerful left group. In 1987 Conroy was anointed by Robert Ray, a senator who dominated the Victorian right, to be, in effect, secretary of the right-wing Labor Unity faction, while formally working as an industrial officer for the - you guessed it - right wing Victorian branch of the Transport Workers Union."