PM wants to pack the Lords with his Tory pals
DAVID Cameron is set to appoint at least 35 Tories to the Lords so he can get his policies through Parliament.
They are expected to be ennobled in the dissolution honours list, amid fears the Prime Minister does not have enough support in the Lords to win battles on Europe and welfare.
Controversially, around a dozen Liberal Democrats are expected to be made peers – even though the party has only eight MPs in the Commons since its General Election drubbing.
The names of the new peers were expected by the middle of next week, when Parliament breaks up for the summer.
But there are signs the list could be delayed amid a row over how many peers Mr Cameron should be allowed to create. Some Cabinet ministers are understood to have drawn up a list of up to 100 new recruits from all parties.
Following concern from senior civil servants, it is understood that a reduced list has been drawn up containing between 40 and 50 names, including around 35 Tories and as few as six from Labour.
Mr Cameron is understood to have told former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg that the Lib Dems would get up to 12 peers as thanks for his
‘He needs extra peers to get his laws passed’
support during the Coalition. Although the Prime Minister has a slim majority in the Commons, so can get most of his business through the Lower House, he faces a tougher battle in the Lords.
Under the Coalition, the Tories and the Lib Dems combined enjoyed a majority of politicallyaligned peers. But, on their own, the Conservatives now fall far short. The present tally is 227 Conservative peers, 213 Labour, 102 Lib Dem, 26 bishops and 38 from other parties or non-affiliated, as well as 180 crossbenchers.
This week, Labour and Lib Dem peers defeated the Tories on devolution, including allowing cities to receive new powers without an elected mayor.
Downing Street described as ‘nonsense’ a report yesterday that Mr Cameron has been forced by the head of the Civil Service to scale back the latest list of peerages. It was reported that Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, and Baroness Stowell, the leader of the Lords, had intervened after the list of up to 100 recruits was produced.
A reduced list of up to 50 will take the composition of the Lords from 786 peers to more than 830.
Former foreign secretary William Hague and former universities minister David Willetts are among the Tories tipped for a peerage, along with Kate Fall, Mr Cameron’s longstanding aide.