A top Tory who has been embroiled in cash-for-access scandals is being considered for a peerage in Boris Johnson ’s crony House of Lords wish list, the Sunday Mirror understands.
It’s understood Conservative chairman Ben Elliot - whose firm has been accused of selling access to Prince Charles and boasting of links to “Russian elites” - is being lined up for a gong in the PM’s resignation honours list.
And more big ticket donors are being discussed - many of them thought to be members of Mr Johnson’s “advisory committee” of donors said to be granted access to senior ministers in return for giving more than £250,000 to the party.
They include John Gore, a Bahamas based donor who has funded the party to the tune of £4.2 million - and David Ross, the Carphone Warehouse founder who arranged a Caribbean getaway for Mr Johnson.
Mr Elliot’s firm, Quintessentially, was accused in August of introducing clients of the firm to Prince Charles after they spent £15,000 on a top-tier membership to the service.
At the time, a spokesperson said the meeting with Prince Charles was “entirely about helping to raise money for charity.”
Following outrage after the invasion of Ukraine, Quintessentially closed its Russian office and Russian language website - with a spokesperson saying the firm was “were in effect out of Russia ”.
Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds said: “Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list reads like a catalogue of Conservative cronies, from a Tory Party Chair who freelanced on foreign policy, to a billionaire based in the Bahamas, to the man at the heart of the scandal over the PM’s freebie holiday in Mustique.
“Right to the last, this Prime Minister seems intent on dragging British politics through the gutter. The sooner he’s out the door the better, but the Tory Party is still propping him up. We need a fresh start with Labour.”
In his last act as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson is expected to put as many as 39 Tory backers forward for the House of Lords.
There are already 253 Tory peers in the Lords - 87 more than Labour, and four more than Labour and the Lib Dems combined.
Such a large Tory bloc would mean a Labour government could have to rely on the votes of crossbench peers to pass its bills.
Boris Johnson has already has already created 43 Tory peers since he entered No10 - compared to 26 by Theresa May in less time. The Lords has swelled from 736 in 2010 to 762 this year.
Billionaire party backers have been jostling for position in recent weeks as Downing Street and the Conservative Party prepare two lists of knighthoods and peerages, expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, Culture secretary Nadine Dorries and Sir Nicholas Soames - the former Tory MP and grandson of Winston Churchill - are understood to have been placed on the list.
And the Mirror has been told a further seven donors have been discussed for a peerage - with one or more names already passed to the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) for vetting.
Millionaire party chairman Ben Elliot - the Duchess of Cornwall’s nephew - is co-owner of luxury concierge firm Quintessentially, which came under fire in March for having boasted of its links to the “Russian elite.”
A source said Mr Elliot was being considered for a peerage, for which he would have to undergo HOLAC vetting.
But a source said Mr Elliot is set for a knighthood if his peerage is rejected by the committee, as that would “only have to get through the Cabinet Office.”
Russian-born banker Lubov Chernukhin was also said to be under discussion, although her spokesperson said she had not been approached by anyone about an honour.
Mrs Chernukhin, whose husband Vladimir served as deputy finance minister to President Putin before coming to the UK, has repeatedly paid for access to successive Prime Ministers ministers in Tory fundraising auctions, including a cosy night out with Theresa May and a tennis match with Boris Johnson.
In total Ms Chernukhin has given almost £2 million to the party - and is the biggest female political donor in British history.
There’s no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of Ms Chernukhin, who holds a UK passport and entitled to donate to political parties.
David Ross, the billionaire former Carphone Warehouse boss is also under discussion for a gong.
Mr Ross made headlines last year (2021) when he arranged the use of a luxury villa on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique for Mr Johnson and then-fiancee Carrie’s £15,000 new-year getaway.
Mr Ross has given more than £700,000 to the Conservative Party in cash donations and gifts - including £10,000 for Mr Johnson’s leadership campaign
And Bahamas-based donor and theatre mogul John Gore is also said to be on the list.
The Sunday Mirror revealed in March that Mr Gore had handed at least £250,000 to the Tories despite living on a Caribbean island for more than a decade.
