Tory grandee Douglas Hogg, who claimed £2,200 on expenses to clean his moat, was today handed a seat in the House of Lords.
David Cameron risked controversy by honouring the ex-MP who became a byword for the 2009 expenses scandal and stepped down from the Commons in 2010.
As a life peer, he will have the right to make and change laws - and to claim parliamentary expenses for travel and accommodation.
The former minister always denied specifically using public money on the moat at his 13th century manor house, but under pressure from Tory HQ agreed to repay the cost, which was listed on paperwork submitted to the Commons Fees Office in support of his claims towards upkeep.
On stepping down, he acknowledged “the public anger” over such claims. The Prime Minister put his name forward for a life barony in the 2011 New Year Honours, but it was blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
Viscount Hogg - who inherited a peerage that no longer comes with a seat in the Upper House - twice stood unsuccessfully for election to one of the 91 hereditary seats in the chamber.
He was among 26 Conservatives given life peerages this afternoon. Former Foreign Secretary William Hague headed a line of ex-ministers with former Chief Whip Sir George Young and ex-Universities Minister David Willetts.
Tory donor James Lupton who has given more than £2.5million was another controversial name. Mr Cameron ennobled his aide Catherine Fall along with ex-MPs and ministerial advisers, courting accusations that the PM was packing the Upper House with supporters.
Eleven Liberal Democrats were elevated, including defeated London MP Lynne Featherstone and ex-leader Sir Menzies Campbell.
Eight Labour names were approved including ex-Chancellor Alistair Darling and former Home Secretary David Blunkett.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper called for a block on further peerages, saying “Our uncodified constitution is being stretched at the seams and our democracy undermined by David Cameron’s pursuit of narrow party political interest.”
The new names add to some 786 people in the Lords, making it second only in size to the Chinese National People’s Congress.
Knighthoods are on the way for Lib Dem former Cabinet ministers Vince Cable and Danny Alexander, who are said to have turned down peerages.
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A peerage also goes to former MP Rob Hayward, the founder chairman of the world’s first gay rugby club, Kings Cross Steelers RFC, and a leading polling expert.
The full list of peerages can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dissolution-peerages-2015
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