Each outgoing Prime Minister has the right to confer a number of persons, usually their political colleagues, the title of nobility upon his departure, so that they may take a seat in the House of Lords. So does Johnson, who resigned in early September. His list of eight members of the House of Commons appears to include Nadine Doris and Nigel Adams, former ministers who supported him through thick and thin. Johnson has always valued loyalty.
It’s a good thing for the Conservatives, as they don’t have a majority in the Senate, which currently has 771 members. Thus each additional master or lady is included. But for Prime Minister Liz Truss, this is a problem. When members of the House of Representatives move into the Senate, which is expected later this year, by-elections in the districts of newly promoted Representatives will follow. A politician cannot sit in both houses.
The problem is that after her disastrous budget presentation in September, Truss has become the most unpopular prime minister since the election began. So electoral carnage in the form of by-elections is the last thing you want, not to mention eight such district elections.
royal permission
This spring, the midterm elections hastened Johnson’s downfall. So, so did Truss Sunday times I mentioned, they are looking for ways to prevent this. The most practical way is to simply give the eight the title of Mr. or Mrs., but only after the next election, at the end of 2024, will they sit on the red seats in the Senate. This is theoretically possible, but it goes against all conventions. Moreover, King Charles had to agree to this remarkable turn of events. Royal permission can be interpreted as an aid to the Conservative Party.
As of last week, Boris Johnson’s roster still had a problem. One of the Eight Lords turns out to be Conor Burns, another loyalist of the former prime minister. This Secretary of State for Commerce was fired from the Conservative faction on Friday for sexually harassing a young man during the last party convention. Burns, who was previously close to Margaret Thatcher, vehemently denies this.
The above-mentioned privilege of outgoing Prime Ministers is under pressure in any way because it betrays favoritism and because the privilege does not benefit the national government. In addition, the House of Lords has become quite large. Only the National People’s Congress of China has a larger number of members. Since Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair expelled most of the gentry at the end of the last century, the House of Lords has become more partisan and powerful.
