Political parties now required to justify House of Lords appointments
Political parties will have to justify why they want to appoint someone to the House of Lords from now on, the Government has announced.
The move comes after several of former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson’s appointments to Parliament’s upper house were met with criticism.
Citations
In a written statement, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said political parties “will be required to provide citations when making nominations for appointment to the House of Lords, summarising why an individual has been put forward” from Thursday.
He added: “It is for party leaders to consider who is best placed to represent their party in the House of Lords when nominating individuals for appointment to the upper House.
“From today political parties will need to provide a citation for each of their nominees, which will be published on gov.uk on successful appointment.”
Boris Johnson
A Labour source said: “There were big questions about why on earth Boris Johnson was giving certain individuals seats in the House of Lords.
“Now parties will have to be upfront about the peerages they are creating as we rebuild trust in politics.”
Questions were raised about Mr Johnson’s decision to appoint both Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge – 30 years old when she was ennobled – and Lord Kempsell to the Lords.
Both had worked as advisers in Mr Johnson’s government.
KGB agent
Security concerns were also aired when Mr Johnson nominated newspaper proprietor Lord Lebedev for a peerage in 2020, as the crossbencher’s father was once a KGB agent.
Under the new system, parties will have to provide a brief summary of why they have nominated someone for a peerage to the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac).
The Government will “keep the appointments system under review as we progress wider reforms to the House of Lords”, Mr Thomas-Symonds’ statement also said.
Since coming to power, Labour has started to enact its reforms of the House of Lords it promised in its election manifesto.
This includes stripping out the remaining places for hereditary peers reserved in the upper chamber.
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Would any of this actually have stopped Boris Johnson appointing who he did?
I suppose Kevin Brennan is not getting his Lordship because he allowed a late entry to be parachuted in to Cardiff constituency.
Sue Gray for turning down the envoy of regions, which sounded like past colonial appointment.
Thangam Debonnaire who lost her seat another, some of the names put forward by Labour it seems.