Tory fundraiser may ascend to the Lords
By politics.co.uk staff
A Conservative co-chairman and old friend of the prime minister is one of the names being mooted for peerages, according to reports.
Andrew Feldman went to Oxford with David Cameron and operated as organiser of the party’s fundraising while in opposition since Mr Cameron became leader of the opposition.
Mr Feldman is just one of the names swirling around the Fleet street rumour mill, to become member of the House of Lords in the next round of appointments, the report in the Daily Telegraph suggests.
Conservative treasurer Stanley Fink and Sir Gulam Noon, who’s name appeared during the cash-for-honours furore at the end of Tony Blair’s leadership, also look set to become peers.
The report claims that prominent figures such as Anne Widdecombe and Anthony Bamford, of JCB, will not make the cut however.
New peers are decided by a commission with representatives from each of the main parties, which submitted their candidates over the summer.
The full list of successful applications is set to be revealed on Saturday. It is expected that the new intake will make the Lords larger than it has been since the hereditary peers were phased out from the House under Tony Blair’s government.
The coalition has committed to replacing the House of Lords with a wholly or predominantly elected second chamber, but in the meantime it must contend with the potential opposition to radical legislation passing through parliament.
A recent defeat was suffered when peers voted for a Labour amendment meaning the government must pay compensation to those people who have already bought soon-to-be obsolete ID cards.
