Cronyism row as May ‘doles out favours’ to pals
THERESA May risks a damaging new cronyism row after the MP who holds her survival in his hands won a knighthood.
Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee, will become Sir Graham, just three months after backing the PM.
Influential Mr Brady, the MP for Altrincham and Sale West since 1997, is responsible for announcing a Tory leadership contest if 15% of Tory MPs ask him for one. Yet, despite a battle for Mrs May’s survival in September, he urged her not to “cut and run”. He said: “At the moment, we are solidly behind Theresa May.”
Knighthoods and damehoods also go to veteran Tory MPs Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Cheryl Gillan and Christopher Chope – all three of whom have held top posts in the backbenchers’ pressure group. Mr CliftonBrown is the 1922 Committee treasurer, Ms Gillan is a vice chair and Mr Chope was a secretary until 2012.
Astonishingly, a fifth of today’s knighthoods went to MPs, despite the PM trying to avoid the cronyism accusations that dogged her predecessor, David Cameron.
And total of 17 gongs went to current or former Home Office officials, Mrs May’s former department, despite it failing disastrously to meet her migration target while she was in charge.
Edward Timpson, an heir to his family’s key-cutting empire, got a CBE, after losing his Crewe and Nantwich seat to Labour by 48 votes in June.
The Tories’ former Lib Dem coalition ally, Nick Clegg, has received a knighthood, while the Lib Dems’ new deputy leader, Jo Swinson, has been made a CBE.
Labour’s Mark Hendrick, who was the first ethnic minority UK MEP, will become a Sir, as will Deputy Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle. Honours Committee chairman Sir Jonathan Stephens said the PM asked his team to focus on giving gongs to community heroes.
Mrs May “emphasised the importance of maintaining the integrity of the honours system”, he added.
But of the 12 local activists rewarded for “political service”, more than half are Tories.
SNP Cabinet Office spokesman Tommy Sheppard accused said Mrs May of using the honours system to “dole out political favours”.
He said: “Sadly, successive Westminster governments have risked demeaning the system by making obvious political appointments.”