Conservative donors and 27-year-old among new peers

conservative-donors-and-27-year-old-among-new-peers
Conservative donors and 27-year-old among new peers

On Friday, the UK government revealed 13 new peerages, welcoming the youngest ever member of the House of Lords along with numerous donors to the Tory party. Carmen Smith, a 27-year-old Plaid Cymru nominee, becomes the youngest ever peer, beating Boris Johnson’s former adviser, Charlotte Owen by three years. Following a parliamentary recess, the list was published with Stuart Marks, a Conservative treasurer, who has donated £119,500 to the party since 2013 and Paul Goodman, editor of Conservative Home, among those included.

While Franck Petitgas, business and investment adviser to Rishi Sunak and ex-president of Morgan Stanley International, who has donated £35,000 to the Tory party, also made the list, it also features Charles Banner KC, a renowned barrister who was photographed watching cricket with the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, at Lords last summer. The Conservative National Convention’s national chairman, Peter Booth, and Rosa Monckton, disability campaigner and founder of Tiffany & Co, also made the list.

The Labour Party nominations include Ayesha Hazarika, former adviser to Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband, along with John Hannett, former union boss, and the party’s former standards and ethics adviser, Jane Ramsey, and Gerald Shamash, the party’s solicitor. Carmen Smith says the new appointment is an opportunity to fight “for a fair deal for Wales and holding this and future UK governments to account.” Continuing, she says, “I will be unashamed in advocating for a fairer, more sustainable, and ultimately independent future for Cymru”, revealing plans to “inspire the next generation of women to take an active role in our communities and our nation.”

Peers, who scrutinise government work and recommend changes to proposed legislation, are appointed by the monarch on the prime minister’s advice, unlike elected MPs. Scientific experts, former MPs and peers with arts experience are among the diverse range of representatives present in the House of Lords. Peers usually remain in the chamber for life, though some choose retirement.

Rounding off the new appointments, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has recently granted senior adviser Dominic Cummings to quit at the year’s end after reports suggesting a Downing Street power struggle between Johnson’s partner, Carrie Symonds, and the PM’s top aide. Cummings was integral to the Leave campaign in the EU referendum and acted as Johnson’s chief adviser during his tenure as London mayor

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