Nigel Farage is demanding he be allowed to nominate some Reform UK peers to the House of Lords for the first time.
The Reform leader has hit out at a ‘democratic disparity’ that sees his party have no representation in Parliament’s unelected upper chamber.
This is despite Reform having four MPs and controlling a slew of local councils.
In a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, seen by The Times, Mr Farage pointed out how other parties with a small number of MPs had been able to nominate peers.
Mr Farage also noted how Reform won more than 4.1 million votes at last year’s general election, and has led in national opinion polls for many months.
‘The Greens, DUP, Plaid Cymru and UUP have 13 peers between them, but Reform UK has none,’ he wrote.
‘The time has come to address the democratic disparity that exists in the upper house.’
The Greens have four MPs in the House of Commons and two peers in the Lords, the DUP have five MPs and six peers, and the UUP have one MP and three peers.
Reform figures such as Ann Widdecombe, the ex-Tory MP, Nick Candy, a billionaire donor, and Zia Yusuf, Reform’s ex-chairman, are potential candidates for the Lords.
Nigel Farage is demanding he be allowed to nominate some Reform UK peers to the House of Lords for the first time
The Reform leader has hit out at a ‘democratic disparity’ that sees his party have no representation in Parliament’s unelected upper chamber
Reform figures such as Ann Widdecombe, the ex-Tory MP (left), Nick Candy, a billionaire donor (centre), and Zia Yusuf, Reform’s ex-chairman (right), are potential candidates for the Lords
Tory peer Lord Norton of Louth, a constitutional expert, said there was a ‘case for minor parties like Reform to have representation in the Lords’ but this was up to Sir Keir.
‘The PM is the only person who writes the rules on this as it stands,’ he said.
‘Historically appointments to the House of Lords were in the gift of the Crown but that function has been passed to the prime minister.
‘So any decision on whether to create Reform peers would rest with him alone.’
Lord O’Donnell, the former cabinet secretary, said: ‘It is a feature of our system that the PM can appoint whoever they like to the House of Lords.
‘It is an area where I think we need greater checks and balances.’
But Lord Hayward, the Tory peer and election expert, said: ‘Just because Reform has a few MPs and is doing well in the opinion polls that does not mean that they are an established credible party that should be represented in the House of Lords.
‘I think Starmer is entirely within his rights to wait and see how Reform actually does over the next few years before making a decision.’
In December last year, Sir Keir appointed 30 new Labour peers – including a string of ex-MPs and his sacked chief of staff Sue Gray – to the House of Lords.
At the same time, the Tories had six new peers appointed to the Lords – including former deputy PM Therese Coffey – while the Liberal Democrats got two new peers.
Defence Secretary John Healey this morning highlighted how Mr Farage had previously called for the Lords to be scrapped.
He told Times Radio: ‘This is the same Nigel Farage that called for the abolition of the House of Lords and now wants to fill it with his cronies.
‘But look, I’m not sure that Parliament is going to be benefiting from more Putin apologists like Nigel Farage, to be honest.’
