It’s time to stop ridiculous number of new peerages, says Lord Speaker

Fresh debate over future of upper chamber as Prime Minister faces criticism for ‘mass’ appointments

THE Lord Speaker has urged the Prime Minister to stop creating “mass” peerages and labelled the size of the upper chamber “ridiculous” following the nomination of 36 new appointees.

Boris Johnson has put forward his brother Jo Johnson, several Tory grandees and his chief strategic adviser for peerages, while numerous Brexitbackers are also set to head to the Lords after Downing Street revealed its new list on Friday. Lord Fowler, the Lord Speaker, said Mr Johnson was encouraging “passenger” peers by failing to tackle the size of the Lords, which will have almost 200 members more than the Commons with the new intake.

According to reports, 88 peers – one in nine – have not spoken, held a Government post or participated in a committee, while 46 have never recorded a vote.

It follows a report by Lord Burns in 2017 which proposed the number of peers be reduced to 600 – a move backed by the unelected House.

Former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Fowler lamented the aboutturn on the promise by Theresa May, Mr Johnson’s predecessor at No10, to use “restraint” in appointing members to the Lords. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s

Today programme, Lord Fowler said: “I do think the Prime Minister has got to stop these kinds of mass appointments because I think the public are unimpressed with it, I think most of us in the House of Lords are unimpressed with it and it is not necessary – we don’t need a House of Lords of 830.

“I mean, it is ridiculous because it is far too many for the duties... we have very important duties to carry out in terms of the governance of this country but we don’t need 830 people to do it – that’s the plain fact and everyone knows that is a fact.

“What you are doing is encouraging some in the House of Lords who are quite frankly passengers and don’t make much effort in any event.”

The swathe of fresh additions would act as a “disincentive” for senior peers to retire because their exit would have “no difference” to the numbers on the red benches given the Government’s regular increases, Lord Fowler predicted.

Yesterday, Lord Leigh of Hurley, a Conservative Party treasurer, insisted: “There is room for people who are prepared to work hard in the House.

“We need to restore the balance to reflect the election. There is no reason why the House should be capped at 600.

“The Commons is now 650 and we are part-time not full-time.”

Ex-England cricket player Sir Ian Botham, who supported the Leave campaign, newspaper owner Evgeny Lebedev and Ruth Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, were also among the 36 new peerages.

Mr Lebedev, the son of a former KGB operative, owns The Independent and

Evening Standard – and has long been a friend of Mr Johnson.

Pete Wishart, the SNP’s Cabinet Office spokesman, accused the Prime Minister of “handing out jobs for life” to friends and those “who have done him favours”.

‘What you are doing is encouraging some in the House of Lords who are quite frankly passengers’