Liz Truss has requested peerages for some of her closest Tory supporters despite her government lasting only seven weeks after a disastrous budget. The former prime minister is understood to have submitted a list of peerages, while No 10 is also still considering whether to grant a long list of honours requested by Boris Johnson as well. The Sun reported that the list included Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, which backed her budget, Matthew Elliott, the Vote Leave founder, Ruth Porter, her former deputy chief of staff, and Jon Moynihan, a Conservative donor and businessman. A spokesperson for Truss declined to comment on the list.
The Liberal Democrats said: “Handing out gongs to her Conservative allies is a truly remarkable way to reward the shortest tenure as prime minister in British political history. “Truss and her Conservative colleagues trashed our economy and left millions in misery. “Those selected for honours are the very people who helped plunge the country into chaos and crisis. “Rishi Sunak must block these honours immediately as allowing Truss to dish out positions of influence shows a stunning lack of humility.” The deputy Labour leader, Angela Rayner, called it a “list of shame”, coming after she said Truss “and her Conservative co-conspirators” had taken a “wrecking ball to the economy”. Senior Whitehall figures had previously said that Truss should avoid a lengthy honours list of aides and supporters to prevent embarrassment to King Charles. Since Truss left office, there have been rumours about the names on a potential Truss list, and suggestions that she may want to elevate her close friend and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, whom she sacked over the mini-budget fiasco, to the House of Lords. Friends of Kwarteng have denied he would want a peerage and say he wants to remain as an MP. When David Cameron left office in 2016 he caused disquiet by giving honours to large numbers of his staff. His successor, Theresa May, was known to have been angered by the number and identity of the names on Cameron’s list, but concluded that she could not stand in her predecessor’s way, as this would set a dangerous precedent. However, Rishi Sunak is likely to come under considerable pressure to block names put forward by Johnson and Truss given the ways they left office.