Shaun Bailey
(Picture: PA Archive)Former mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey who was photographed breaking Covid rules at a party is on Boris Johnson’s Lords list, reports say.
Mr Bailey resigned as chairman of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee last year after a photograph published by the Mirror showed him alongside dozens of staff members at the party.
He is rumoured to be among 20 people nominated by the former Prime Minister to have a seat in the House of Lords, The Times is reporting, as part of Mr Johnson’s customary resignation honours list.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Tuesday: “I think it’s a slap in the face for all those who followed the rules [during lockdown]. I think it’s a slap in the face for all those who died because of Covid.
“It’s a slap in the face for all those families who couldn’t grieve their loved ones because they followed the Covid rules, and all those families who couldn’t celebrate big birthdays and weddings because they followed the rules. I think cronyism is alive and kicking in the Tory party.”
Mr Johnson asked the MPs he has nominated for peerages to delay taking them up so they do not trigger by-elections.
The politicians are all understood to have agreed to put off heading to the Lords until the end of the current Parliament to spare Rishi Sunak the challenges.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries is expected to be on Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list.
The Times suggested that so too are Cop26 President Alok Sharma, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack and former minister Nigel Adams.
There are also two young advisers, Ross Kempsell, 30, and Charlotte Owen, a former assistant to Johnson, who are expected to make the cut. The list also reportedly includes David Ross, the multimillionaire Tory donor and Carphone Warehouse co-founder.
It is tradition for departing prime ministers to create new life peerages, and these are often handed to political staff and former advisers.
The unelected Lords currently has around 800 members, making it larger than the elected Commons, which has 650 MPs, and also the second largest legislature in the world after communist China’s National People’s Congress, according to the Electoral Reform Society.
A Cabinet minister has said he believes the House of Lords is due for reform, “not least” owing to its size, but Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said it would be “very difficult” to get political consensus on any possible shake-up, despite his belief there are “few” in the House of Commons who would oppose change.
He told Times Radio: “The House of Commons probably as a body generally would not be happy with the size of the House of Lords, the fact that… what is effectively an undemocratic body perhaps has a role in certain areas that it does.
“I think there are few in the House of Commons who wouldn’t say that there should be change.”
But he said any prospect of a shake-up has been hindered by the fact MPs have “never been able to coalesce around a single solution”.
He added: “If your question is does the… House of Lords need reform? I think absolutely.
“Not least to the point you’re making: its size, which has now grown to, I think, over 800 members, which is larger than the Chinese Communist Party’s central committee.
“I do think there is scope for change, but it is one of those things that has been very difficult to get political consensus on.”
