Boris Johnson poised to go ahead with resignation honours list

Boris Johnson is poised to go ahead with a resignation honours list before he departs Downing Street, No 10 has confirmed, after speculation that it could include gongs for the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, and the former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, among others.

Asked about the prospects of such a list, Johnson’s official spokesperson said he could not comment on details, but that it is “convention” for departing prime ministers to award knighthoods and appointments to the House of Lords.

Asked about reports that the prime minister’s list could be long, the official said: “I don’t believe there have been any significant discussions on it at this stage.”

He said he was “not aware” of Johnson planning to give his father, Stanley Johnson, a knighthood.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, Johnson is considering elevating Dorries to the Lords along with Allegra Stratton, who resigned as his communications chief after being filmed joking about No 10 parties.

The Liberal Democrats have written to the House of Lords appointments commission and the Cabinet Office honours committee urging them both to block any resignation honours Johnson proposes, arguing the prime minister is too tarnished to do so.

“Boris Johnson has no honour, so he doesn’t deserve a resignation honours list,” said Wendy Chamberlain, the party’s chief whip. Every Conservative party leadership candidate should come out and oppose Johnson being given an honours list and confirm they would turn down a gong if he offered them one. A prime minister forced from office by his own lies, corruption and law-breaking shouldn’t be allowed to hand out honours to his friends on the way out. There must be no more rewards for failure.”

The details will be forthcoming … and probably alarming … :scream_cat:

Apparently:

The prime minister will accept Johnson’s resignation honours list, which is understood to have about 50 names submitted, within weeks, according to the Times. But it could result in a headache for Sunak with the prospect of byelections in the autumn as Nadine Dorries, the former culture secretary under Johnson, and Alok Sharma, his Cop26 president, are expected to stand down to take peerages.

Sharma’s seat in Reading West, Berkshire, has a majority of only 4,117. Dorries’ seat in Mid Bedfordshire is a safe Tory seat with a 24,664 majority but could be at risk if there is a big swing towards Labour after the party’s success in May’s local council elections.

A Whitehall source told the newspaper they expected the list to be published in the next fortnight, while another said it would be before the summer recess in July. The source added Sunak is keen to “clear the decks” and move on.

The former prime minister’s honours list has been contentious after reports last year about names submitted including party donors, aides and a proposed knighthood for his father, Stanley Johnson.

There will, inevitably, be a furore … :wink: