They were the dynamic, priapic premiers who guided their country through a pandemic – and the comparisons between Boris Johnson and David Lloyd George don’t stop there. For no man has done more to advance the cause of Lords reform since the days of the ‘Welsh Wizard’ than Johnson. In his seemingly ongoing quest to destroy the Upper House, this morning’s Times reports that the Old Etonian has nominated some 20 names for life peerages. Among them include two youthful aides who, if accepted, would become the youngest life peers ever.
The first is Ross Kempsell, 30, the Tory party’s former political director, whose mooted nomination has caused something of an explosion in Steerpike’s DMs. ‘It makes a mockery of the system’, fumed one former government aide. Kempsell is best known as the TalkRadio journalist who secured the infamous ‘I paint buses’ interview with Boris Johnson, after which the latter decided it was best to avoid a repeat of the experience by, er, hiring him for No. 10. Since then, the two have become bosom buddies and racket partners. Apparently, Johnson now intends to reward Kempsell by making him the most highly-decorated tennis player in British history.
The second is Charlotte Owen, a former assistant to Johnson believed to be in her late twenties. She graduated from university in 2015 and after five years as an intern and parliamentary assistant is now qualified to sit there for life. Her sum total experience in government is a whopping 18 months in the No. 10 Policy Unit under Johnson and Liz Truss. Under the latter her role was split to cover Chief Whip Wendy Morton too. In this capacity Owen would have had a front row seat on such glorious episodes as the ignominious fracking vote and the collapse of the government after just seven weeks.
How refreshing to see our best and brightest being recognised for once.
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