Boris Johnson is seeking to hand peerages to four Tory MPs in his resignation list, even as a cabinet minister admits the House of Lords is bloated and “undemocratic”.
Alok Sharma, the outgoing Cop26 president, is among about 20 nominees, alongside the Scotland secretary Alister Jack and ex-ministers Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams, it is believed.
The move will spark accusations that both Mr Sharma (who has a majority of little over 4,000 votes in Reading West) and Mr Jack (under 2,000 in Dumfries and Galloway) are fleeing likely general election defeat.
