Lords in waiting

Key players in line for a seat

Kate Fall

Known as David Cameron’s “gatekeeper”, she has been one of the Prime Minister’s closest advisers during his time in No10. As the PM’s deputy chief of staff, she controls access to Mr Cameron and wields an influence many junior ministers can only dream about.

She plays an essential role in the smooth running of his office by juggling diary requests.

They met at Oxford University. She is the daughter of Sir Brian Fall, a former British Ambassador to Moscow during the Cold War.

James O’Shaughnessy

Mr Cameron’s director of policy between 2007 and 2011, he drafted the Conservatives’ general election manifesto in 2010 and co-authored the coalition’s Programme for Government.

A career in think-tanks pre-dated his time with the Tories. He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University after attending Wellington College – and has worked as a lobbyist since leaving Mr Cameron’s office in 2011.

Simone Finn

As special adviser to Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister throughout the last parliament, she had a front-row seat during the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition.

The well-connected aide had built a reputation as a crusader for reform and efficiency in government and was one of the brains behind the party’s trade union reforms.

She studied at a Swansea comprehensive before going to Oxford University where she met and later dated Michael Gove, now the Justice Secretary.

Jonny Oates

Chief of staff to Nick Clegg from 2010 to 2015, he is another party insider and former lobbyist to make it onto the list of new peers.

He served as a councillor for the Lib Dems in the 1990s and became policy and communications director. During a break from the party, he worked for Bell Pottinger, a leading lobbying and PR firm.

He was accused of covering up the Lord Rennard scandal after denying Mr Clegg’s knowledge of allegations made against the peer.