Boris Johnson has no intention of placing Owen Paterson in the House of Lords, government sources have indicated.
Speculation that the former Conservative cabinet minister might get a peerage, despite the Commons standards committee ruling that he committed an “egregious case of paid advocacy” in defiance of Commons rules, was triggered by a lobby briefing on Friday at which the PM’s spokesperson pointedly refused to rule out the prospect.
The briefing prompted Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, to write to the House of Lords appointments commission asking it to issue a public statement saying Paterson was unsuitable for a peerage.
But on Sunday, government sources went further, apparently ruling out a peerage for Paterson, at least in the short or medium term. One source familiar with the thinking in No 10 on the matter said there was “no intention of a peerage at all”.
The source also strongly rejected suggestions that Paterson, who announced his resignation as an MP on Thursday, had already been offered a seat in the Lords, or that Johnson had discussed the prospect with his fellow Brexiter.
Downing Street has yet to quash Paterson’s hopes of a peerage with an on-the-record statement, but ministers and officials are likely to be asked about this again in the coming days.
Last year, Johnson gave a peerage to Peter Cruddas, a former Conservative party co-treasurer, even though the appointments commission said it could not approve him getting a peerage because of his past involvement in a cash for access controversy.
