FORMER home secretary Priti Patel is reportedly being tipped for a seat in the House of Lords.
Patel has come up in formal talks around Boris Johnson's resignation honours list - according to openDemocracy - which is different to the already-leaked political honours list he is expected to nominate.
The Daily Telegraph reported the names of 25 people expected to become peers - which includes former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre and Nicholas Soames - but that list was apparently created long before Johnson left Downing Street.
He has now reportedly submitted his own new list after resigning which includes Patel.
Just hours after Liz Truss won the leadership race, Patel - who brought about the controversial plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda - resigned as home secretary as it became widely rumoured Suella Braverman would get the job.
Outgoing prime ministers are usually granted a resignation honours list to reward their allies and these often include donors.
David Cameron’s 2016 resignation honours included a peerage for major Tory donor Andrew Fraser while Theresa May's featured David Brownlow, who went on to be at the centre of Johnson’s “wallpapergate” scandal.
A leaked memo earlier this year, from the company of longtime Johnson ally Lynton Crosby, suggested there were plans to pack the House of Lords with at least 40 new Tory peers, giving the party a majority in the upper chamber.
Johnson made more than 80 nominations to the House of Lords in just under three years as prime minister including billionaire party donor Peter Cruddas, which was made in defiance of advice from the independent watchdog for appointments to the Lords.
The House of Lords Appointments Commission raised concerns over his nomination in December 2020, over allegations of a cash-for-access scandal in 2012, which prompted the then Tory party co-treasurer to resign.
He also nominated Russian-born billionaire Evgeny Lebedev and his younger brother Jo Johnson, who now sits as Lord Johnson of Marylebone.
It was revealed earlier today the head of the House of Lords Appointment Commission has written to Liz Truss and Keir Starmer to tell them their recent nominees to the House of Lords have put the committee in an ‘uncomfortable position’, urging the leaders to improve the calibre of new appointments.
The House of Lords, consisting of around 800 unelected members, is the second largest legislature in the world behind the National People’s Congress of China.
SNP MP Tommy Sheppard said: "The Conservative Party has shown time and again their utter contempt for the democratic institutions of this country, so it’s little surprise they’re continuing to stuff the already bloated House of Lords to the brim with their colleagues and rich friends. Westminster will always be rife with cronyism.
"At Westminster, they can debate the ‘calibre’ of Lords' nominees until the cows come home but we know that no matter the calibre or quality of a potential Lord their entry into the chamber is undemocratic so long as it remains an unelected institution."
