Boris Johnson’s long-awaited resignation honours list has been released, with the former prime minister nominating close allies for peerages and other gongs. Mr Johnson handed peerages to former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, while giving staunch loyalists Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel a knighthood and a damehood respectively.
Benjamin Gascoigne, a former deputy chief of staff to the ex-prime minister will enter the House of Lords alongside Ross Kempsell, a former political director of the Conservative Party. Charlotte Owen, a former adviser to Mr Johnson, will become one of the youngest peers, while Kulveer Singh Ranger, a former director of transport while Boris Johnson was London mayor, will also be elevated to the Lords.
Former No 10 chief of staff Dan Rosenfield will also enter the upper chamber. Those put forward for a knighthood include former business secretary Mr Rees-Mogg, former housing secretary Simon Clarke and MPs Conor Burns and Michael Fabricant.
Former co-chairman of the Conservative Party Ben Elliot and William Lewis, a political adviser to Mr Johnson, are also in line to become knights bachelors. Former home secretary Ms Patel has been nominated for a damehood, along with former ministers Andrea Jenkyns and Amanda Milling.
The former head of operations at No 10, Shelley Williams-Walker, will also receive a damehood, along with Mr Johnson’s former personal assistant, Ann Sindall. Notably absent from the list were former culture secretary Nadine Dorries and Sir Alok Sharma, president of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, following reports the Government cut them at the 11th hour to swerve potentially damaging by-elections in their seats. Ms Dorries earlier announced she was standing down as an MP “with immediate effect”, triggering an early election battle in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Downing Street sought to distance Rishi Sunak from the list. “He had no involvement or input into the approved list,” the Prime Minister’s press secretary said.
Lord Newby, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, called Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list a “clear failure of leadership” from the Prime Minister: “Boris Johnson caused crisis after crisis in this country. His lack of honour means he didn’t deserve an honours list in the first place.
“Yet Sunak has caved in, rewarding Johnson for his reckless behaviour as prime minister. The British public will be outraged at this out of touch decision. Rishi Sunak needs to come before Parliament immediately to justify his cowardly failure to block Boris Johnson’s Honours list.”
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Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner called Boris Johnson's resignation honours list a "sickening insult", adding: "Instead of tackling the cost-of-living crisis, the Tories are spending their time doling out rewards for those who tried to cover up rule-breaking and toadied to a disgraced former prime minister. It's a sickening insult that those who planned Covid parties and held boozy lockdown bashes while families were unable to mourn loved ones are now set to be handed gongs by Rishi Sunak.
"As Boris Johnson faces yet more allegations and investigations about his conduct, the privilege of an honours list is spectacularly ill-judged and wholly undeserved. It's shameful that Rishi Sunak has failed to stand up to his former boss's outrageous demands and agreed to hand out prizes to this carousel of cronies. He promised integrity, but this weak Prime Minister is once again showing his appalling judgement by doing Boris Johnson's bidding."
