Boris Johnson has nominated his fiercest cheerleaders for peerages, with two of his former aides set to become the youngest life peers in history.
The former prime minister has selected more than a dozen of his closest allies to head to the Lords, as part of a resignation list longer than David Cameron’s and Theresa May’s combined. Here are some of the main figures.
Alister Jack
The Scottish secretary was one of Johnson’s main allies and has kept his job since 2019, surviving Liz Truss’s regime and Rishi Sunak’s first appointments. If he were to accept a peerage it would trigger a byelection in his Dumfries and Galloway seat, which he has held since 2017 with a narrow majority.
Nadine Dorries
The former culture secretary garnered attention for her repetitive and swift defence of Johnson when he was embroiled in scandal and left on the ropes amid party infighting.
Even after Johnson’s exit, Dorries has used Twitter to continue to praise the former prime minister’s efforts in securing the Conservative party a large majority.
Alok Sharma
The outgoing Cop26 president backed Johnson to return to frontline politics and even make a second bid to win the keys to No 10 last month.
Sharma worked as an accountant before winning his Reading West seat from Labour in 2010.
Sharma worked closely with Johnson as the UK prepared to host the climate change summit last year, and supported Johnson as scandals battered the former prime minister.
Ross Kempsell
The 30-year-old formerly worked for Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV station as political editor, during which he interviewed then prime minister Johnson in No 10. The bizarre interview consisted of Johnson claiming that he made model buses in his spare time.
He had also worked for Murdoch’s new station, Times Radio, as a special correspondent before joining CCHQ as political director.
Charlotte Owen
She is one of Johnson’s former assistants who is understood to be in her late-20s. She will be one of the youngest life peers ever.
Dan Rosenfield
Rosenfield left Downing Street as chief of staff in January after Tory MPs called for Johnson to reset his cabinet after Partygate.
Before working for Johnson, he had worked as principal private secretary at the Treasury between 2007 and 2011.
It is understood that Rosenfield returned to the private sector with a director-level role at Centrica, the owner of British Gas.
Ben Gascoigne
Gascoigne worked with Johnson as his political secretary when he was mayor of London before joining him in Downing Street.
The former deputy chief of staff also worked alongside Johnson in the Foreign Office.
Ben Houchen
Houchen claimed it was “news to him” that he was being lined up for a peerage by Johnson. The Tees Valley mayor said he was instead focused on securing re-election in 2024.
Shaun Bailey
The candidate who tried to become London mayor and failed is line for a peerage. Bailey quit as chairman of the London assembly’s police and crime committee after a photograph emerged of him breaking Covid rules at a lockdown party based in CCHQ.
