DISAPPEARING PEERS
Revealed, high-profile ‘passenger’ Lords who attend fewer than one in five sittings
LORD Sugar is among the high-profile peers who have been to fewer than one in five Lords sittings, the Mail can reveal.
His Apprentice co-star Baroness Brady and former Olympian Lord Coe also fare poorly in the league of shame.
Some peers are present for as few as 2 per cent of days the Lords sits for. Others claim the £305 daily allowance for turning up despite their poor attendance records.
The revelations come after warnings that the Lords must reduce the number of ‘passenger’ peers who contribute little. Lord Speaker Norman Fowler last week said the recent mass creation of life peers meant some realised after a few days they were ‘in the wrong place doing the wrong thing’.
The former Tory cabinet minister wants to cut the size of the Upper House from 800 to 600. Last night Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, warned of an increasing number of ‘couch-potato peers’.
The Mail’s analysis is based on the ongoing Parliamentary session from June 2017 until December 20 – a possible maximum of 229 sitting days.
Lord Sugar, who insists that Apprentice candidates use his title, attended just 28 days, for a rate of 12 per cent. It was an improvement on his attendance record in the previous parliamentary session of 12 days in 142, or 8 per cent. He has voted only nine times in the last five years.
Baroness Brady, who is also the vice-chairman of West Ham United, attended just 17 per cent of possible Lords hearings and has spoken nine times in five years.
She was given six weeks off by the Tory chief whip last year to film the most recent series of The Apprentice. Former Olympian Sebastian Coe, now Lord Coe, has attended just 6 per cent of hearings and has not spoken in the House in the last five years.
Author and former Conservative politician Lord Archer, who was jailed for perjury in 2001, attended on just four days out of a possible 229 – less than 2 per cent.
Lord Hanningfield, the former leader of Essex Council who was jailed in 2011 for false accounting relating to Lords expenses, attended just ten days – a 4 per cent record. When he does go, he often claims his £305-a-day allowance – but he has not spoken in the House for three years.
Founder of the Ministry of Sound nightclub James Palumbo, now Lord Palumbo of Southwark, made just 20 days – almost 9 per cent. The Lib Dem donor, who is worth
‘Unelected and unaccountable’
an estimated £350million, has spoken in the House eight times since 2013. In November, the Mail revealed how Conservative peer Baroness Mone flew to the Maldives rather than scrutinise counter-terrorism legislation. She also missed a key vote on the Brexit bill following a trip to Monaco. The multi-millionaire founder of bra firm Ultimo, who went to 12 per cent of Lords sessions, regularly claims the maximum £305-a-day attendance allowance. She says the money is given to charity.
Other than Lord Hanningfield, the other peers featured in the Mail’s analysis do not choose to claim the allowance. In 2016, Lord Cormack, of the Campaign for an Effective Second Chamber, said peers who ‘barely attend’ should be excluded. He cited Lords with an attendance record of 25 per cent or less.
MPs on the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee have called for ‘urgent’ action to axe 200 peers.
SNP MP Ronnie Cowan, who sits on the committee, said: ‘It is utterly ridiculous that in 2018 we still have a second, unelected and unaccountable chamber.’
Many former MPs who were elevated to peerages have similarly poor attendance records.
Labour politician Peter Mandelson went to just 24 days of Lords hearings (10 per cent attendance). For former Tory Party leader William Hague the figure is 14 per cent.
Lord Sugar said it was a matter of ‘opinion’ whether his attendance record was poor. He said he regularly used his title on social media and TV because it is his name – and told his five million Twitter followers that a Mail reporter who contacted him for comment was an ‘idiot’. His spokesman said he attends the Lords ‘as frequently as his schedule permits’ and does not claim expenses.
A Lords spokesman said the House has agreed to endorse a report recommending reducing peers to 600, adding: ‘Since the last election, there have been 48 departures from the House, meaning we are on track to meet the reduction proposed by the committee.’
Lord Hanningfield, 79, said his attendance record has been poor as he is in ill health and plans to step down at 80. A spokesman for Lord Archer, 78, said he also plans to retire as a peer when he hits 80 and does not claim his allowance.
Lord Coe said he had to balance his ‘hefty’ international commitments with Lords debates.
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