Reasons behind two controversial Johnson peerages revealed after 18-month battle
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The reasons behind two controversial peerages awarded by Boris Johnson have been published after an 18-month freedom of information battle. Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge and Lord Kempsell, two former special advisers in the Conservative government, were appointed to the House of Lords in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list.
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. Martin Rosenbaum, a journalist and freedom of information campaigner, took the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) to a first-tier tribunal in order to reveal who had written letters of citation for the two Tory peers.
Holac initially refused Mr Rosenbaum’s freedom of information request to reveal the citations for Lord Kempsell and Lady Owen on the grounds they contained confidential personal information. Holac 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.
