A FORMER leader of Scottish Labour has been inducted into the House of Lords as her party has been accused of “shamelessly” ennobling a new generation of “unelected cronies”.
Wendy Alexander was introduced to the second chamber as a legislator on Thursday despite calls for her appointment to be suspended.
The former Labour MSP for Paisley North, also the former vice principal of Dundee University, will now sit in the House of Lords for life as Baroness Alexander of Cleveden.
There had been calls for the suspension of Alexander’s appointment until an investigation into the financial crisis at the educational institute is completed.
Dundee University revealed it has a £30 million funding gap and is facing lecture strikes after bosses proposed job losses to help cut costs.
In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Dundee Central SNP MP Chris Law (below), said there are far too many questions still unanswered around Alexander’s role at the university as she has faced scrutiny over her leadership during her time at the institute.
He said: “It is expected more information about the University of Dundee’s leadership decisions will be made public over the coming months and I think it is only right that appointments of any nominees facing such scrutiny must be suspended until all details have been made public and any subsequent investigation, either internal or external, has taken place.
“There are far too many questions still unanswered around your nominated appointment’s role in the University of Dundee’s current predicament, and I ask that you consider suspending this appointment until an open and transparent investigation by the university or other body has taken place.”
However, a Number 10 spokesperson told The Courier all nominations were vetted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
In 2022 Starmer said he wanted to reform the House of Lords in part because “people have lost faith in the ability of politicians and politics to bring about change”.
During the General Election campaign last year Labour pledged to replace the unelected upper chamber of the Westminster Parliament in the first five years after taking power.
However, since coming into government Labour have reportedly decided to only tweak the upper chamber by slowly cutting the total number of both peers and hereditary peers.
SNP MP for Perth and Kinross-shire Pete Wishart (below) called Labour’s decision to induct Alexander into the House of Lords “utterly shameless”.
“A job for life and she will have a role in deciding the laws of this land,” he said.
“Meanwhile, as a senior manager at Dundee University, a crisis is left behind.
“Labour's 'ennobling' of a new generation of unelected cronies and donors is utterly shameless.”
A source told The Courier that Labour’s decision regarding Alexander seemed hasty and that the party would be better off tackling the issues at Dundee University instead.
They said: “It is astonishing that Labour have rushed Baroness Alexander into the Lords when so many people are worried about their jobs and so many questions have been left unanswered.
“It all seems very hasty.
“Labour could well do with tackling the underlying issues around the crisis at Dundee such as Brexit and the hostile environment rather than appointing yet more Labour Lords to this bloated and costly chamber.”
