Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wants to see representatives from his party in ermine-clad robes – despite him previously calling for the unelected House of Lords to be abolished
Nigel Farage wants to nominate Reform UK peers to the House of Lords and has demanded Keir Starmer allow him to do so.
The Reform UK leader wants to see representatives from his party in ermine-clad robes – despite him previously calling for the unelected House of Lords to be abolished. He now wants to be allowed to nominate people to the unelected chambers.
The Clacton MP highlighted that the Green Party, which also has four MPs, has two working peers while the Democratic Unionist Party, which has only five MPs, has six members. Mr Farage said the situation amounted to a “democratic disparity” that meant Reform UK had four MPs and controls ten councils, but has no one in the Lords, The Times reported. It comes after Nigel Farage’s appearances on Sky News sparked thousands of complaints.
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Asked about Mr Farage’s calls, Defence Secretary John Healey told LBC this morning that this was the “same Nigel Farage that called for the abolition of the house” and now he wants to put his “cronies” in there. He added: “I’m not sure that Parliament’s going to be benefit from more Putin apologists like Nigel Farage, to be honest.”
The Prime Minister has control over political appointments to the House of Lords. Members can be suggested by the public and political parties and are then approved by the PM, before being formalised by the King.
Rows have previously erupted after Prime Ministers have nominated their mates to become peers in the House of Lords. Ex-PM Boris Johnson faced anger for handing life peerages to his former aides in No10. He also made Evegeny Lebedev, the media mogul and son of billionaire ex-KGB agent Alexander, a peer in the bloated House of Lords back in 2020.
Mr Starmer’s government has promised to tighten the rules. In December, it has said political parties will now have to justify nominations to the upper chamber following years of rows over alleged cronyism.
There is no obligation for the PM to appoint peers from opposition parties though usually they grant some to them.
At the end of last year, Mr Starmer appointed 30 new Labour peers, with gongs for former aide Sue Gray and a number of former MPs. In his first round of political honours, the Prime Minister handed a life peerage to Partygate inquisitor Ms Gray, who served as his chief of staff for less than 100 days before being ousted after a string of internal rows. Mr Starmer also gave seats in the Lords to ex-MPs Thangam Debbonaire, Luciana Berger, Lyn Brown, Kevin Brennan, Steve McCabe and Julie Elliott, along with former Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones.
The PM allowed the Tories to name six peers. Kemi Badenoch’s names included controversial “free speech” champion Toby Young and Prof Nigel Biggar, a staunch advocate of the culture wars. She also handed seats in the Lords to former Cabinet Minister Therese Coffey, who was deputy PM under Liz Truss. Mr Starmer also allowed Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey to nominate two new peers.
In a letter to the PM, seen by The Times, Mr Farage has criticised Reform UK not being allowed to nominate anyone. He said: “My party received over 4.1 million votes at the general election in July 2024 [and] have since won a large number of seats in local government, led in the national opinion polls for many months and won the only by-election of this parliament,” he wrote.
“The Greens, DUP, Plaid Cymru and UUP [Ulster Unionist Party] have 13 peers between them, but Reform UK has none. The time has come to address the democratic disparity that exists in the upper house.”
Names on a possible Reform UK peers nomination list could include Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative MP who is now Reform UK’s immigration and justice spokesperson, and Nick Candy, a Reform UK donor and the party’s treasurer, and Zia Yusuf, the party’s former chairman.
Lord Hayward, the Conservative peer and election expert, told The Times: “Just because Reform has a few MPs and is doing well in the opinion polls that does not mean that they are an established credible party that should be represented in the House of Lords.
“I think Starmer is entirely within his rights to wait and see how Reform actually does over the next few years before making a decision.” He added that of five Reform MPs elected in 2024, the party had already “lost” two after they resigned.
Lord Norton of Louth, a constitutional expert, told the newspaper there was a “case for minor parties like Reform to have representation in the House of Lords”. “The prime minister is the only person who writes the rules on this as it stands,” he said.
“Historically appointments to the House of Lords were in the gift of the Crown but that function has been passed to the prime minister. So any decision on whether to create Reform MPs would rest with him alone.”
Lord O’Donnell, a former cabinet secretary, told the newspaper: “It is a feature of our system that the prime minister can appoint whoever they like to the House of Lords. It is an area where I think we need greater checks and balances.”
Baroness Fox of Buckley, a member of Mr Farage’s Brexit Party who was nominated by Boris Johnson and sits as a crossbencher, added: “Labour says it wants to improve the diversity of the House of Lords and this seems like a very sensible place to start. There can be no rational reason for Starmer to turn it down.”
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