‘PM planning to reward Brexit backers with series of peerages’
BORIS JOHNSON is to mark his first year in Downing Street by rewarding Brexit supporters – including Sir Ian Botham – with life peerages, it has been reported.
The former England cricketer, who lives in Ravensworth in North Yorkshie, is among 30 new peers to be announced later this month, according to The Times.
The list is said also to include four ex-Labour MPs – including Frank Field and Gisela Stuart – who both supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum.
There will be peerages also for Ian Austin and Sheffield-born John Woodcock, who backed Remain but who supported Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal and urged Labour voters not to support Jeremy Corbyn, the paper said.
At the same time, it was reported that Mr Johnson will seek to heal the divisions in the Conservative Party with peerages for Ken Clarke, Philip Hammond and Ed Vaizey.
All three had the Tory whip withdrawn after seeking to block
his efforts to reach an agreement with Brussels.
Sir Ian – one of England’s greatest cricketers with 5,200 test runs and 383 wickets – publicly supported the Brexit campaign, appearing alongside Mr Johnson before the referendum.
There was no immediate comment from Downing Street or from the cricket star himself.
If true, he will be the third former cricketer to have received a peerage, following Colin Cowdrey and David Sheppard, who later became Bishop of Liverpool.
Sir Ian made his name as an all-rounder but his sporting exploits were not reserved to the cricket pitch, with the Cheshire native also turning out for Yeovil and Scunthorpe in the Football League.
In cricket, he took 383 wickets across 102 Tests and scored 5,200 runs. Since retirement he has moved to the commentary box and serves as Durham County Cricket Club’s chairman.
The 64-year-old was knighted in 2007 in recognition of his services to charity and cricket, having completed several fundraising walks between Land’s End and John O’Groats for leukaemia research.
On the political front, Sir Ian appeared at a County Durham event with Mr Johnson in the lead-up to the referendum and said he felt power has been “eroded by Brussels”, adding: “enough’s enough.”