Reasons given for Boris Johnson peerages ‘inadequate’, campaigner says
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Martin Rosenbaum fought for 18 months to reveal authors of letters of citation for Charlotte Owen and Ross Kempsell. The reasons given for a peerage awarded by Boris Johnson have been described as “inadequate” and a “mystery” by a freedom of information campaigner after an 18-month struggle.
Charlotte Owen, a former special adviser in the Conservative government, was appointed to the House of Lords in Johnson’s resignation honours list in 2023. Both her appointment and that of another former special adviser, Ross Kempsell, were subject to criticism from the former prime minister’s political opponents and 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 to a first-tier tribunal in order to reveal who had written letters of citation for the two Tory peers. The commission initially refused Rosenbaum’s freedom of information request on the grounds they contained confidential personal information, but the tribunal upheld the journalist’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 Johnson’s government including during the pandemic. 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”, one of her citations said.
