Senior Tory MP criticises Boris Johnson over Lebedev peerage

A senior Tory MP has said he “can’t believe” Boris Johnson made Russian-born media mogul Evgeny Lebedev Lord.

Sir Bernard Jenkin spoke out behind closed doors in February when he called for stricter scrutiny over who MPs accept donations and hospitality from.

They have now come to light as the minutes of the select committee hearing were released.

The Prime Minister was reportedly advised against giving Mr Lebedev a seat in the House of Lords for security reasons.

Lord Lebedev, who has Russian and British citizenship, is the son of a former KGB spy but has denied he poses a security risk to Britain.

He is not a conservative donor but senior politicians, including Mr Johnson, have enjoyed his hospitality at parties and other events.

Mr Johnson, who was endorsed as London Mayor by Lord Lebedev’s Evening Standard newspaper, nominated his friend for a peerage in 2020 for philanthropy and services to the media.

Last week, the Sunday Times reported that the House of Lords’ Appeals Committee – which considers nominations for nobility – had advised Mr Johnson against the move in March this year.

The newspaper claimed the committee’s assessment was changed after Mr Johnson personally intervened, which the Prime Minister firmly denied.

Another source has confirmed to the BBC that security services have raised concerns, and former Prime Minister adviser Dominic Cummings blogged on Wednesday that he was present when the Prime Minister was made aware of those concerns.

In response to a letter from Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer calling for an inquiry into how Lebedev got a seat in the UK Parliament, the commission said it could not pass its advice to the prime minister for reasons of confidentiality.

Lord Lebedev, the son of Russian banker and ex-KGB officer Alexander Lebedev, who moved to Britain as a child, said he was “not an agent of Russia” and condemned President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Last week he wrote in his Evening Standard newspaper that he was “proud to be a British citizen and to call Britain my home”.

Sir Bernard commented on Lord Lebedev’s peerage on February 8 this year, when the Commons Standards Committee spied on Parliament’s security director, Alison Giles, at a behind-closed-doors meeting. An edited transcript of the meeting has now been released.

The committee, of which Sir Bernard is a prominent member, investigates the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPGs), informal committees of MPs and colleagues accused of being fronts for lobbyists.

The MP, a leading Brexiteer and Mr Johnson’s supporter, broadened the discussion to call for financial donations to MPs to be more tightly regulated and transparent.

And in comments echoed by other senior Tories last week as the government slapped sanctions on Russian oligarchs, he said Conservatives and other parties should put more scrutiny on people who donate money to them.

He then casually added that the prime minister “conferred a peerage on Lebedev – I can’t believe it”.

A Government spokesman said: “All persons nominated for a peerage are nominated in recognition of their contribution to society and all peerages are reviewed by the House of Lords Appeals Committee.”