From Lord’s to the Lords, is Sir Ian Botham peerage ‘cronyism’? – The Yorkshire Post says

SIR IAN Botham will be in esteemed company if, as expected, he is elevated to the House of Lords. Only two former cricketers – Colin Cowdrey and David Sheppard who later became Bishop of Liverpool – have received peerages.
Sir Ian botham, the former England all-rounder,backed Boris Johnson and Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.Sir Ian botham, the former England all-rounder,backed Boris Johnson and Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.
Sir Ian botham, the former England all-rounder,backed Boris Johnson and Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.

Yet, given his uneasy relationship with members of Lord’s where he played with such distinction during a buccaneering career on and off the pitch, Sir Ian, who now lives in North Yorkshire, will certainly enliven proceedings and bring great insight from sport to charity fundraising and country pursuits.

But the fact that this peerage – and others due to be announced in the coming days – is reward for backing Boris Johnson over Brexit is another political no-ball, to use cricketing parlance, which plays straight into the hands of those who believe that such cronyism brings Parliament into disrepute, and will continue to do so, until a future government is prepared to consider, and implement, House of Lords reform.

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Sir Ian Botham always had an uneasy relationship with members of Lord's cricket ground.Sir Ian Botham always had an uneasy relationship with members of Lord's cricket ground.
Sir Ian Botham always had an uneasy relationship with members of Lord's cricket ground.

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James Mitchinson

Editor

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