According to reports, a prominent supporter of the Conservative party who was said to be included on Boris Johnson’s initial list of resignation honours has been appointed as one of 13 new peers announced by the government on Friday evening. Of the 13, eight are from the Conservative party.
The official announcement stated that Stuart Marks, a tech entrepreneur and former senior treasurer for the Conservatives, has been granted a life peerage. He has made personal donations of £119,500 and an additional £56,500 through his company to the party.
Several reports have mentioned Marks as one of the nominees for peerages in Johnson’s resignation honours list. Other MPs, such as Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams, were also included in the list.
According to reports, Marks, Dorries, and Adams were a few of the names that were taken off the list.
During the beginning of a week-long recess, another individual was bestowed with a peerage on Friday evening. This recipient was Franck Petitgas, who has served as a special advisor on business and investment for Rishi Sunak. He has previously made a donation of £35,000 to the Conservative party.
Several additional members of the Conservative party have been appointed as peers, including Paul Goodman, a former MP who currently serves as editor of the ConservativeHome website. Other new peers include Rosa Monckton, a businesswoman and advocate for individuals with disabilities, as well as John Fuller, the leader of South Norfolk council, and James Jamieson, who previously chaired the Local Government Association.
The Labour party selected four individuals for peerages, which included Ayesha Hazarika, a former special adviser and broadcaster; John Hannett, the leader of the Usdaw shopworkers’ union; and lawyer Gerald Shamash, who serves as solicitor for the Labour party.
Plaid Cymru selected Carmen Smith, a 27-year-old former chief of staff in the Welsh Senedd, as their nominee for peer.
The recent appointments bring the total number of members in the House of Lords to just a few shy of 800, with 784 active peers before the latest additions. This makes it the second largest legislative chamber globally, trailing only China’s National People’s Congress.
Several reports and proposals have proposed decreasing the number of members in the upper house. In 2017, a committee formed by the former lord speaker, Norman Fowler, suggested reducing the size to a maximum of 600 members and implementing term limits of 15 years for new peers.
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In the time since then, several prime ministers have appointed additional peers, with varying levels of involvement and dedication among them.
In 2022, a study conducted by The Guardian revealed that out of 318 potential meetings that newspaper owner Evgeny Lebedev could have participated in since being made a peer by Johnson, he only attended four, which is equivalent to 1.25% of the overall number.
Since becoming a peer in November 2015, Lebedev has only spoken twice, with a total speaking time of less than 10 minutes, and has never cast a vote.
Source: theguardian.com
