City grandee Peter Cruddas in line for a peerage
Peter Cruddas will reportedly be granted a peerage as Boris Johnson adds to the Brexit-supporting Conservatives in the House of Lords.
Cruddas, who is the co-founder and chief executive of CMC Markets, is on a list of nominees that will be considered by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, according to Sky News.
The appointment could trigger accusations of cronyism given Cruddas’ multimillion donations to the Conservative Party and the Vote Leave campaign.
He was also reported to have donated £50,000 to Johnson’s leadership campaign last year.
If Cruddas is handed a seat in the upper chamber he would join fellow City grandeeMichael Spencer.
The Nex group founder was reported to have been on David Cameron’s resignation honours list in 2016 but his chance was scuppered by his involvement in the libor-rigging scandal.
Spencer’s investment company IPGL was also among the donors to Johnson’s leadership campaign, donating £20,000.
Among the other expected nominees for peerages are former Tory chancellors Philip Hammond and Ken Clarke, according to the BBC. Both were expelled from the party last September after being accused of blocking Brexit.
Former Speaker John Bercow is currently engulfed in a row over whether he should receive a peerage. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has reportedly nominated him forward for the honour.
However Bercow stands accused by a number of former colleagues of bullying.
Ex-Black Rod David Leaky told Sky News that giving him a seat in the Lords would be a “scandal that parliament would struggle to live down.”
Downing Street and CMC Markets were both contacted for comment.