In his letter to Smith, copying in the Lords standards commissioner and Pat McFadden, the most senior Cabinet Office minister, Winn said: “I am writing to bring to your attention an issue that I and many others in my industry believe is bringing the work of the House of Lords into disrepute: the issue of peers who are paid by lobbying firms … I firmly believe that lobbying is an essential part of the parliamentary process and that, done ethically and transparently, it helps make better laws by bringing together the right facts, research, insights, and arguments to inform policymakers.
The leader of the House of Lords has been urged to back calls for tighter restrictions on peers being paid to offer political advice after a Guardian investigation found one in 10 have held such roles.
Gabe Winn, chief executive of Blakeney, a lobbying firm, wrote to Angela Smith on Tuesday, saying he and many others in the industry believed the issue was “bringing the work of the House of Lords into disrepute”.
But, whilst the leader of the House of Commons introduced changes to the exemptions on paid advocacy roles for MPs from 25 October 2024, the equivalent has not yet been done for members of the House of Lords.”.
The Guardian’s analysis found 91 members of the Lords were being paid for their political advice by organisations such as Santander bank, the French arms manufacturer Thales and the British digger manufacturer JCB.
