Boris Johnson‘s top adviser previously vowed to make people government ministers by handing them peerages if he ever got “control” of No10, a video recording has revealed.
Dominic Cummings, speaking shortly after having been sacked as an adviser to Michael Gove, proposed that the prime minister should recruit ministers “from wherever” and “whack ’em in the House of Lords” to allow them to take government jobs.
The clip, from 2014, resurfaced as Mr Johnson handed a peerage to Nicky Morgan, who stepped down as an MP at the general election, to allow her to continue in her role of culture secretary. It is understood that she will hold the post until there is a full cabinet reshuffle in February.
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Reports suggest that the prime minister is also planning to ennoble a number of prominent Brexiteers before parliament votes on legislation that would enshrine his Brexit deal in law.
Trade experts and lawyers are tipped to be among those set to receive peerages. Names that have been mentioned in Westminster include Shanker Singham, a trade specialist, Martin Howe, a Eurosceptic lawyer, and Johnny Leavesley, a businessman and Tory donor.
Former Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, who lost his Richmond Park seat to the Liberal Democrats law week, is also likely to be given a place in the House of Lords to allow him to continue as an environment minister.
In the clip, posted on social media, Mr Cummings tells an event organised by the IPPR think-tank: “The prime minister should be able to appoint whoever he wants as a minister. There’s a very simple mechanism for doing this – you whack ’em in the House of Lords, and then you give lords right of audience in the House of Commons and you strengthen the select committee process.
“I understand, having talked to some old-timers in the House of Lords, that you could maybe do this very, very quickly.”
To laughter from the audience, he continued: “That would be on my to-do list if I ever manage to successfully get control of No10. One of the first things I would do would be some orders in council [the process by which peerages are granted] whizzed through at 2am that gave the prime minister the right to do this.”
Summarising his argument, Mr Cummings suggested that the government should “bring in people from wherever and make them ministers back in the House or Lords, and have the legislature far more as a legislature.”
He has previously argued in favour of major reform of the Civil Service to bring more policy experts into government.
The new wave of Tory peers are expected to be precede a series of drastic changes to Whitehall, drawn up by Mr Cummings, that will see some government departments abolished and others merged.
Staff at the Brexit department are expected to move to the Cabinet Office when Britain leaves the EU, while the Department for International Development is expected to become part of the Foreign Office.
