Cameron hands out peerages even faster than Blair!
He’s packing Lords more quickly than any other PM
DAVID Ca mer o n has appointed peers to the House of Lords at a faster annual rate than any other prime minister, research has revealed.
As he prepares to announce dozens of new peers in the next few weeks, it has emerged that Mr Cameron has been more likely than any other prime minister since 1958 to send people from ruling parties to the Lords.
Researchers at University College London found his appointments average at 40 per year since 2010.
The previous record had been set by Labour’s Harold Wilson with 38 a year, followed by Tony Blair – frequently criticised by Tories at the time for packing the Lords – on 37.
The record for the lowest annual peerage creation rate is shared by Gordon Brown and Edward Heath on 12 a year.
And among new appointments to the Upper House during the period of the Coalition, 62 per cent have been to the Conservative and Liberal Democrat benches.
Last night Yvette Cooper, who uncovered the figures, accused the Prime Minister of ‘ vandalising democracy and undermining the constitution’ by cramming the House of Lords with his placemen.
Mr Cameron i s expected to announce around 50 new Lords in the next few weeks, with up to 40 of them Conservative. Around ten are expected to be Liberal Democrats, while a further six or so will be Labour.
Earlier this week the Mail revealed that one of them is expected to be multi-millionaire Tory donor James Lupton. The investment banker, who has donated £2.5million to the Conservatives, is joint treasurer of the party and was in charge of raising money for its election war chest.
According to the study by University College London’s constitution unit, Mr Cameron has also been more likely than any other prime minister since 1958 to send people from the governing parties to the Lords – largely thanks to the Coalition, when he appointed many Liberal Democrats to the Upper House.
Among new appointments to the Lords since 2010, 62 per cent have been to the Conservative and Lib Dem benches, including Apprentice star Karren Brady, who was made a Tory life peer in 2014.
This is much higher than the previous record set by Jim Callaghan, 50 per cent of whose peers were Labour. The study records the number of modern life peerages, created in 1958 during the premiership of Harold Macmillan.
It compares to Gordon Brown, whose list of peers included just 32 per cent who were Labour; and Edward Health who sent just 18 per cent of his new appointees to the Tory benches.
Yesterday Miss Cooper called on Mr Cameron to institute a freeze or cap on Lords appointments and for him to look at suggestions to give the House of Lords Appointments Commission complete control over nominations until proper reform has been made.
The Labour leadership candidate warned: ‘Our uncodified constitu- tion is being stretched at the seams and our democracy undermined by David Cameron’s pursuit of narrow party political interest.
‘David Cameron and the Tories are vandalising democracy rather than seeking public consent or cross party consensus for major changes to our democratic institutions.’
The Tories do not currently have a majority in the Lords. There are 226 Conservative peers, 212 from Labour, 101 from the Lib Dems and 179 cross-benchers.
Last week Mr Cameron said it was ‘fair’ to restore the balance between parties in the Lords, but he pledged to do so gradually.
‘Vandalising democracy’