Former PM Boris Johnson faced a backlash after awarding his ex-aide Charlotte Owen a life peerage when she was just 30 in a controversial resignation honours list in 2023
The reason Boris Johnson awarded Charlotte Owens a peerage have been officially revealed after an 18-month freedom of information battle.
The Partygate PM made his ex-aide a life peer in a controversial resignation honours list in 2023. It can now be revealed it was because she advised him on “many sensitive and key projects” – including on which MPs should be appointed ministers in a reshuffle.
The now-31-year-old became a Baroness at age 30, making her the youngest person ever to be handed a life peerage. As she made her maiden speech in the Lords in November 2023, Baroness Owen lavished praise on Mr Johnson. “I must thank the former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who put a great deal of trust in me. I will be forever grateful not only for this but for his kindness and encouragement.”
The reasons she was awarded a peerage were only revealed after a lengthy battle from Martin Rosenbaum, a journalist and freedom of information campaigner. After finally managing to get the reasons published, he branded the reasons for Baroness’s peerage “very thin, inadequate and lacking in evidence of relevant achievements”.
Mr Rosenbaum took the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) to a first-tier tribunal in order to reveal who had written letters of citation for two Tory peers, Baroness Owen and Lord Kempsell – another of Mr Johnson’s aides and who was given a peerage at 31. Both appointments were subject to criticism from the ex-prime minister’s political opponents, as well as transparency campaigners who called for the reasoning behind the appointments to be revealed.
Holac initially refused Mr Rosenbaum’s freedom of information request to reveal the citations for the pair on the grounds they contained confidential personal information. It told the tribunal there was a “strong public interest in protecting the confidentiality of the consideration of individual nominees and ensuring the potentially sensitive vetting information can be candidly assessed”. But the tribunal upheld Mr Rosenbaum’s arguments that releasing the information was in the public interest.
Citations for Lord Kempsell and Lady Owen recount their career histories at the heart of Mr Johnson’s government, including during the pandemic. Baroness Owen one details how the former PM “entrusted Charlotte with engaging the parliamentary party on his behalf and she was essential to maintaining his relationship with them”.
One of her citations added that Lady Owen led on “many sensitive and key projects including advising the prime minister and the chief whip on suitability for ministerial appointments during the reshuffle”. While much of the information remains redacted, Conservative former ministers Grant Shapps and Chris Heaton-Harris were revealed as nominees for Lady Owen.
Lord Kempsell’s citation details that “he was the most senior policy and political official in the Conservative Party”, adding: “He provided political advice directly to the prime minister, all cabinet ministers and many MPs, prepared the prime minister for parliamentary appearances and developed the party’s platform for multiple party conferences. He led work on major parliamentary by-elections.”
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Speaking after the tribunal’s judgment, Mr Rosenbaum said: “The reasons cited for nominating Owen to membership of the House of Lords do come across as very thin, inadequate and lacking in evidence of relevant achievements. They leave her peerage as a mystery rather than properly justifying and explaining it.
“I am very pleased that the documentation has now been revealed, but it shouldn’t need an argument over 18 months for the public to find out what reasons are officially provided for allocating certain people important political powers.
“Members of the House of Lords debate and vote on laws that control the British public’s lives. As a basic principle the public is fully entitled to know what reasons are given for why they have been appointed to rule over us.”
There is no formal retirement age for members of the House of Lords, with the oldest peer Lord Christopher, who entered the House in 1998, still partaking at 98 years old. If Baroness Owen is to sit in the Lords until the same age, she will have been a peer for almost 70 years.
Labour’s manifesto committed the party to several House of Lords reforms ahead of a longer-term ambition to replace the House with an alternative second chamber. The Labour government has since introduced a bill to remove hereditary peers from the House’s membership as a first step in its reform programme. Further measures, for example around introducing a mandatory retirement age of 80-years-old and a participation requirement, are expected to follow later in the parliament.
Last October Mr Johnson defended handing a peerage to his former aide Baroness Owen and hit out the “abuse” aimed at her. Defending her and Lord Kempsell’s appointments on Tuesday, Mr Johnson told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Both of them were extremely accomplished advisers of mine.” Pressed on Ms Owen’s elevation to the Lords, the ex-PM added: “She was an extremely effective political adviser.
“The House of Lords is currently rammed to the gills with people who were political advisers. I can think of the person who ran David Cameron’s [operations] team who is now in the House of Lords. Nobody makes a fuss about that do they?”
