PM’s prizes for pals

Cronyism row over peerages for donors, Brexit backers... and his brother

BORIS Johnson risked a cronyism row yesterday after elevating 36 peers to the House of Lords including Tory donors, Brexit supporters – and even his own brother.

Former minister and ex-Tory MP Jo Johnson, who quit his sibling’s front bench over Brexit, will become a peer.

Mr Johnson’s chief of staff Sir Eddie Lister, former Tory MPs, party loyalists and Labour MPs who defied Jeremy Corbyn to back him over Brexit were also included on the longawaited list.

Russian-born Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev was included on the list. Mr Johnson met with the oligarch’s company in March this year, according to transparency data. He counts him as a friend.

England cricket legend and Brexit supporter Sir Ian Botham will also head to the House of Lords.

Theresa May’s husband Philip May is to receive a knighthood for political service.

The Prime Minister was immediately accused of creating a ‘private member’s club’ as campaigners warned that the new peers would cost the taxpayer £1million a year in expenses.

It will take membership of the Upper House to more than 800 at a time when many believe its numbers should be reduced. Lords Speaker Norman Fowler accused Mr

‘Massive U-turn in policy’

Johnson of a ‘U-turn’ over reform plans. Despite claims that some Tory donors had been blocked by the House of Lords Commission, Michael Spencer was included.

The billionaire financier, a Conservative Party treasurer between 2006 and 2010, has donated about £5million and raised an estimated £100million.

He is believed to have been rejected for a peerage four years ago following reports about the Libor-rigging scandal.

At the time his City broking firm Icap was still facing controversy after being fined £55m in 2013 for rigging the benchmark rate. Mr Spencer was not himself implicated.

However, Mr Johnson is understood to have been angered after other donors were blocked, including businessmen Johnny Leavesley and Peter Cruddas. It is thought their names will be included on a new list to be published in the autumn. There are not believed to have been objections to them personally.

As the Mail revealed last week, three of Mr Corbyn’s controversial choices were blocked by the commission, leaving him with just two nominees.

Former speaker John Bercow, his former gatekeeper Karie Murphy and ex Labour deputy leader Tom Watson were all left off the list.

But there was some charity from Mr Johnson for Tory MPs who he kicked out of the party over Brexit, including one-time Chancellors Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond.

Former Labour MPs who opposed Jeremy Corbyn and backed Brexit were also included on the list, such as Ian Austin and John Woodcock, who actively urged voters to switch to the Tories.

Rebels Kate Hoey and Frank Field were both included, as was Gisela Stuart, who was a key figure in the Leave campaign.

It also emerged that of the 36 new peers, just four are women, reviving sexism claims against Downing Street. Mr Johnson has been criticised after failing to promote women to the top table, and with the majority of No10 press conferences being given by men.

Last week, Sam Smethers, the chief executive of the Fawcett Society, urged the PM to balance the list, but just one more woman appears to have been added.

There were peerages for several Tory Party loyalists, including Sir Henry Bellingham, Nicholas Herbert,

Mark Lancaster, Sir Patrick McLoughlin and Ed Vaizey.

But Lord Fowler, the Lord Speaker, warned there will now be nearly 830 peers – 200 more than there are MPs in the Commons.

‘This list of new peers marks a lost opportunity to reduce numbers in the House of Lords,’ he said. ‘That is a massive policy U-turn.

‘It was only two years ago that the then Prime Minister, Mrs May, pledged herself to a policy of “restraint” in the number of new appointments.’ He said that the Government had ‘abandoned’ the ‘established policy’ to reduce the size of the Upper Chamber.

Lord Fowler added: ‘It is also a vast pity that the list has been announced within the first few days of the summer recess when neither house is sitting, and the Government cannot be challenged in Parliament.’

Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, warned the new peers would cost

the taxpayer more than £1million a year in expenses. ‘By appointing a host of ex-MPs, party loyalists and his own brother, the PM is inviting total derision,’ he said.

‘That he can get away with it shows what a private member’s club this house is. The Lords was already the largest second chamber in the world.

‘There are now over 800 unelected peers, voting on our laws for life.

‘Today marks a nail in the coffin for the idea that the Lords is some kind of independent chamber of experts. It is a house of cronies and party loyalists.’