Boris Johnson’s attempt to honor allies casts a glare on House of Lords

Famous for its gilded furniture, ceremonial vestments and archaic procedures, Britain’s House of Lords has the dubious honor of being the world’s largest legislature outside of China.

Now the unelected second chamber of the British Parliament is at the center of an acrimonious split over attempts by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to add his friends and allies to its already swollen ranks.

Like all outgoing prime ministers, Mr Johnson was entitled to nominate candidates for “resignation honours”, which includes knighthoods. But when three people on his list of nominees failed to make it, he accused the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, of blocking them.

One of those disappointed — Nadine Dorries, a former cabinet minister — claimed she was stymied by “fancy guys” because of her working-class background. And when Mr Sunak said publicly that Mr Johnson had lobbied him to overturn the way nominees were vetted and approved, Mr Johnson replied that this was “nonsense”.

While the debacle revealed publicly for the first time the depth of the animosity between Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson, it also dealt another blow to the already shaky reputation of the House of Lords.

“What’s extraordinary about this is the damage it’s doing to the Conservative Party and to our public institutions,” said Catherine Haddon, program director at the Institute for Government, a research group specializing in governance, pointing to the questions it raised about the dismissal. system. “The fact that this is so transparent that Johnson is openly rewarding those around him shows what a problem it is.”

The controversy over the House of Lords may seem esoteric, but membership comes with benefits as well as a nice title. Lords members, known as peers, can claim up to 342 pounds (about $433) as a daily allowance when they attend sessions. They hold their seats for life and do not have to stand for election. Their role is to shape and revise laws after they have been debated in the House of Commons.

But the House of Lords now has 777 members and a chamber too small to house them all at once. Most (predominantly male) members are at the end of their careers, with an average age of 71 years.

For prime ministers, the power to create peers (not just when they leave, but also during their time in Downing Street) brings significant support.

Among those honored by Mr Johnson are Charlotte Owen, an adviser to him who becomes the youngest member of the House of Lords at age 29; and his spokesperson Ross Kempsell, 31.

In addition to nominating colleagues, Mr. Johnson paid lesser tributes to other allies, including Kelly Jo Dodge, his parliamentary barber.

He is also widely reported to have unsuccessfully pressed for a knighthood for his father, Stanley Johnson, while several of those embroiled in the scandal of partying that broke lockdown on Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic were also honoured.

The greatest political difficulty revolves around members of the House of Commons nominated by Mr Johnson for appointment to the House of Lords. They had to pledge to relinquish their seats in the House of Commons, but three – including Mrs Dorries – were under the assumption that they could remain in the House of Commons until the next general election, effectively postponing their peerage.

That would have avoided elections in any of their constituencies, contests that the Conservatives could have lost.

The matter was discussed at a meeting between Mr. Sunak and mr. Johnson, but both came out with different views on what had been agreed.

Asked about the breakup on Monday, Mr. Sunak that mr. Johnson would have wanted him to bend the nominating approval rules or – as he put it – “do something that I wasn’t willing to do.”

When she was omitted from the final list, Ms Dorries angrily accused Mr Sunak and his political aide James Forsyth of deliberately blocking her. It was, she told Talk TV, a story ‘about a girl from Liverpool’ that was taken from her by ‘two privileged genteel lads’, she said, referring to Mr Sunak and Mr Forsyth.

Ms Haddon, from the Institute for Government, said Downing Street could have been more proactive in keeping Ms Dorries informed, but it was up to Mr Johnson to keep her informed.

“Nadine Dorries should have known this was a problem, and if it was Johnson who gave her assurances, it addresses questions that have been raised in many forums about Johnson’s behavior when it comes to telling the truth and being open and be honest with people,” she added.

One of the three nominees who failed to make the final list has nevertheless resigned his seat in the House of Commons, meaning it’s up for grabs and may prove difficult for the Conservatives to keep. There will also be a contest for the seat Mr Johnson held until he left parliament on Friday after seeing draft conclusions from an inquiry into whether he had misled lawmakers about the parties breaking lockdown in Downing Street. The publication of that document is expected on Thursday.

However, after saying she was leaving the Commons, Mrs Dorries has yet to formally do so, leaving the Prime Minister waiting for her next move.

But for Mr. Sunak, the really bad news is that the furor over awards may not be over.

Mr Johnson was briefly succeeded in Downing Street last year by Liz Truss, who was Prime Minister for just 44 days. Her resignation list is yet to come.