Government announces new working life peers

The government has published a list of 23 new members of the House of Lords.

The list includes six Labour peers - including former TGWU General Secretary Sir Bill Morris, Maggie Jones, director of policy and public affairs for Unison and former Labour minister Joyce Quin - seven Conservatives - including party treasurer Jonathan Marland, Sandip Verma, founder of Domiciliary Care Services UK and Local Government Association chairman Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart - and five Liberal Democrats - including former MPs John Burnett and Brian Cotter and ex-MEP Robin Teverson.

The list also includes former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and the first three peers for the Democratic Unionist Party - Eileen Paisley, wife of party leader Sir Ian Paisley, party chairman Maurice Morrow and Belfast Lord Mayor Wallace Browne. Scotland's Lord Advocate Colin Boyd will sit as a crossbench peer.

The new members are the first to be announced since the row over peerages being granted to people who lent political parties money.

The row broke out after it emerged that four Labour nominees had given the party secret loans. Three of the nominees - Barry Townsley, Chai Patel and Sir David Garrard - withdrew from the list, while a fourth - Sir Gulam Noon - had his nomination blocked by the independent commission which examines nominations.

A police investigation was launched into the secret loans given to the Labour Party in the wake of the allegations. It was then widened to include other political parties.

None of those who lent either the Labour or Conservative party money were on the new list of peers. However, five of the Conservatives peers have donated money to the party.

They included: Jonathan Marland who donated £154,000 to the party over the past two years; Mohammed Sheikh, chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, who gave £37,507 and David James, who drew up plans to cut Whitehall spending for the party, who donated £18,550.

(KMcA)