Grant Shapps says Rishi Sunak did not alter Boris Johnson’s honours list ‘in any way’ as Energy Secretary denies claims PM intervened to block peerages for his predecessor’s allies
- Energy Secretary insists neither PM nor No10 aides altered Boris Johnson’s list
Cabinet minister Grant Shapps today denied claims Rishi Sunak meddled with Boris Johnson’s honours list to block peerages for his predecessor’s allies.
The Energy Secretary insisted neither the Prime Minister nor any Downing Street aides had altered Mr Johnson’s list ‘in any way’ amid a furious row within Tory ranks.
Mr Johnson has dramatically quit the House of Commons over both Partygate and the bitter dispute over honours for his supporters.
His allies blame No10 for senior Tory MPs – including Nadine Dorries, Nigel Adams and Sir Alok Sharma – not appearing on the published peerages list despite them being nominated for a seat in the House of Lords by Mr Johnson after his exit from No10 last year.
Ms Dorries and Mr Adams have joined Mr Johnson in quitting the Commons with immediate effect to leave Mr Sunak facing three tricky by-elections in the coming weeks.
In the wake of their departure, which has shaken the PM’s leadership, Mr Shapps denied there was any Downing Street involvement in honours not being handed to those MPs most loyal to Mr Johnson.
Cabinet minister Grant Shapps denied claims Rishi Sunak meddled with Boris Johnson’s honours list to block peerages for his predecessor’s allies
The Energy Secretary insisted neither the Prime Minister nor any Downing Street aides had altered Mr Johnson’s list ‘in any way’ amid a furious row within Tory ranks
Mr Johnson’s allies blame No10 for senior Tory MPs – including Nadine Dorries – not appearing on the published peerages list despite them being nominated for a seat in the House of Lords
‘Rishi Sunak has not changed, altered, the list in any way,’ Mr Shapps told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday Show.
‘In fact, there is a House of Lords Appointments Commission – or Holac as it is called – which looks at all nominations.
‘There is a very long-tested protocol in place where former prime ministers put people up for the House of Lords… and the prime minister who comes in usually passes it on.
‘In this particular case, because No10 has actually published the details, you can see that Rishi did not change that list at all.
‘The Commission will have made all of those decisions and the Prime Minister has not intervened in any way.’
In another TV interview, Mr Shapps insisted reports that Mr Sunak or his aides removed names from Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list were untrue.
‘The list that came to him was the list that that went to the House of Lords appointments committee that looks at these things,’ he told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.
‘Just to be clear here, it went to that committee. The committee would have to say if the Prime Minister removed anyone.
‘The Prime Minister has exactly followed the very long-standing conventions of prime ministers who simply take the list and pass it on and receive it back.’
Pressed on whether a member of the PM’s team removed names ‘months ago’ before it arrived with Mr Sunak, Mr Shapps said: ‘My understanding is no. As far as I’m aware, that is not true.’
Mr Johnson’s former No10 communications director has claimed the ‘relevant authorities’ were unhappy with the scale of Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list.
Guto Harri, who worked for Mr Johnson between February and September last year, told Sky News: ‘As I understand it, there has been a lot of toing and froing about this list and I think the relevant authorities were not happy with the scale of it and some of the nominations originally.’
Defending the list, Mr Harri added: ‘Boris has in this list taken care of a whole load of decent men and women who put in an enormous shift without fame nor fortune.’
Mr Harri received a CBE in the honours list although it has been reported his gong was downgraded from a knighthood after he recently used a podcast to reveal some of the details of his time in No10.
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