Seats for sale? new report reveals the worrying scale of political donors awarded seats for life in the House of Lords.
A new report has revealed the worrying scale of political donors awarded seats for life in the House of Lords, pointing to major corruption risks in the second chamber. Transparency International UK research found almost a quarter of all nominations from political parties were political donors – 68 out of 284, in total between 2013 and 2023, of whom, £58 million had been donated to various parties. Twelve of the appointments had given over £1 million or more with £54 million coming from these ‘super donors’ representing 92 per cent of all donations from peers during this period. Ninety-one percent of these contributions by value (£53.4 million) went to the Conservative Party. Seats for sale Although it is against the law to ‘sell’ peerages, there is a striking correlation between those donating to political parties and those awarded lifetime appointments in the House of Lords. This gives rise to the perception of, and valid concerns about, the sale of peerages as a reward for substantial contributions to political parties. The UK’s anti-corruption organisation is now proposing a number of reforms to rules around the appointment of new political and non-political peers, and rules regarding conduct and disciplinary processes for sitting members. The position paper also sets out proposals for strengthening transparency under alternative systems of selection should the House of Lords be reformed to become directly elected in the future.
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