AS David Cameron elevates some of his party’s biggest donors to the House of Lords, an investigation by The Sunday Times has uncovered how some previous “donor peers” are failing to make any contribution to the already crowded upper house.
The Tory donor Simon Wolfson, granted a peerage by Cameron after the 2010 election to become Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, did not speak during any debate in the last session and did not vote on any bill. Wolfson, chief executive of the Next retail chain, was recorded as present in the chamber on only two days.
Lord Bamford, the JCB chairman who has given £101,249 to the Conservatives in personal donations and millions more via his company, voted three times in the last session and spoke twice — both times about his own company. He was present on five days.
The figures emerged from an analysis of official parliamentary records of peers’ attendance, voting and written and oral contributions alongside donation figures compiled by Transparency International.
The research is being published days after the appointments of 45 new peers were announced last week, making the House of Lords the biggest legislative body in the world apart from China’s national People’s Congress. The Lords now has 826 members.
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According to the analysis, the 23 serving peers who have personally donated more than £100,000 to political parties attended for an average of 52 days in the last parliamentary year — 27 fewer than the average for all serving peers.
Six of the top donors attended parliament fewer than 14 times but none of those claimed the daily allowance or expenses for the few days they did show up.
However, campaigners for electoral reform accused them of treating the Lords as a members’ club for “political retirees and hangers-on”.
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Labour peer Lord Haughey, a Scottish fridge tycoon who has donated £1.7m to the party, attended seven days in the past year. He did not speak in any debates but voted six times.
His party colleague Lord Drayson has scaled back his appearances at the Lords since losing his ministerial position after the 2010 election. The rally driver and businessman made no written or oral contributions and attended for 12 days in the year. He took part in 13% of votes.
Michael Bishop, the former owner of the BMI airline who became Lord Glendonbrook in 2011, has donated £2.1m to the Conservatives. He attended 12 times in the past year, missed 75% of votes and made one contribution to debates.
The Sunday Times has decided not to name the sixth donor as his low participation is attributed to ill health.
Not all “donor peers” had such low attendance and voting records. Lord Sheikh, a Conservative peer since 2006 and who has donated £174,162 to the party, attended 123 days in the last parliament, took part in 77% of votes and spoke on 13 occasions. Lord Popat, who in addition to giving the Conservatives £432,158 served as a party whip, was recorded as present on 114 days and had an 88% voting record.
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Last week Cameron was accused of “cronyism” for awarding 26 peerages to former Tory ministers, aides and donors, including James Lupton, a banker who has donated more than £2.8m to the party, and Douglas Hogg, the former Tory MP exposed for claiming more than £2,000 for cleaning the moat of his country estate.
Darren Hughes, deputy chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: “The House of Lords is an important part of our law-making process and yet for too many it is treated more like a status symbol.
“The presence of party donors is worrying enough for the public. The fact that some . . . don’t even vote simply adds to people’s suspicion that the Lords is a cosy members’ club for political retirees and hangers-on.”
“The reason for this is simple: my role as CEO of my company entails extensive travel throughout the world. From October this year my role will change and this will allow me to play a more active role in the House of Lords,” he said.
Drayson said he had decided to take a “less engaged role” after Labour lost power in 2010. “I greatly enjoyed contributing to public service as an unpaid minister for five years,” he said.
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“I now want to make a contribution in a different way drawing on my business knowledge and experience.”
Bamford declined to comment, Wolfson did not respond to a request for comment and Glendonbrook could not be reached for comment.
Sunday Times Data Team: Tom Wills, Megan Lucero and Karrie Kehoe