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{{Short description|Independent advisory non-departmental public body}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}The House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) is an independent advisory non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom with oversight of some aspects of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It has two roles:

• to recommend at least two people a year for appointment as non-party-political life peers who sit on the crossbenches;
• to vet for propriety most other nominations for membership of the House of Lords, including those nominated by the UK political parties, nominations put forward by the Prime Minister for ministerial appointment in the House of Lords, for public service, and nominations in the Honours lists (including Resignation and Dissolution).

The Commission does not vet for propriety the appointments of the Bishops or Archbishops or the 92 hereditary peers who still sit in the House of Lords.The Commission was established in May 2000 to assist the transitional arrangements for reform of the House of Lords. The role of the Prime Minister in making non-partisan recommendations to the King for creation of life peerages was partiallweblink e.g. Gus O'Donnell was created a crossbench peer by PM Cameron without involvement of the commission. transferred to the Commission, in order to ensure greater transparency in the process. It was also given oversight of all other appointments to the Lords, including partisan nominations.

Members

The Commission has non-partisan members as well as representatives from the House of Lords of the three largest political parties:WEB,weblink Chairman and Members of the Appointments Commission, House of Lords Appointments Commission, 6 June 2023,

• Chair: The Baroness Deech {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE}} (Chair since November 2023)WEB, Appointment of Baroness Deech as Chair of the House of Lords Appointments Commission,weblink London, House of Lords Appointments Commission, 26 October 2023, 19 December 2023,
• Non-party political members:
  • The Lord Chartres {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|GCVO|PC}} (member since June 2019)WEB,weblink Prime Minister appoints new Independent Members to the House of Lords Appointments Commission, 2019-05-31, GOV.UK, en, 2019-06-21,
  • Dame Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE}} (member since June 2019)
  • Sir Hugh Robertson {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|KCMG|DL}} (member since December 2023)WEB,weblink Two new independent Members appointed to the House of Lords Appointments Commission, House of Lords Appointments Commission, 22 December 2023, 25 March 2024,
  • Wayne Reynolds (member since December 2023)
• Members nominated by the three major parties:
  • Conservatives: The Baroness Noakes {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE}}
  • Labour: The Baroness Taylor of Bolton {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|PC}} (member since September 2022)WEB, Labour Party Political Member appointed to the House of Lords Appointments Commission,weblink 2022-09-24, GOV.UK, en,
  • Liberal Democrats: The Baroness Parminter

"People's peers"

The Commission makes recommendations for the appointment of non-partisan life peers. It has established for itself seven criteria upon which to base its decisions, seeking to recommend people with

• a record of significant achievement within their chosen way of life;
• the ability to make an effective and significant contribution to the work of the House of Lords;
• the time available to ensure they can make a contribution;
• some understanding of the constitutional framework, including the place of the House of Lords;
• integrity and independence;
• a commitment to the highest standards of public life; and
• independence from any political party.WEB, 2001, Criteria Guiding the Assessment of Nominations for Non-Party Political Life Peers, HOLAC,weblink 20 November 2006,

The Commission has made recommendations for appointment on 16 occasions since its establishment in 2000, with a total of 67 people being recommended for peerages. All of these individuals went on to be nominated as and created life peers. Upon taking their seats, every one of them joined the crossbenches.The fact that the type of people considered by the Commission for peers were to be neither aristocratic nor members of the "political class" led some in the British media to describe those it was to appoint as "people's peers".NEWS, 'People's peers' under scrutiny, BBC,weblink

date=25 April 2002, This term has never been a formal classification.The purpose of the reform was to make the process more open and those making appointments more accountable. Upon the establishment of the Commission, the Prime Minister Tony Blair said it would ensure a House of Lords that was "more representative of our diverse society"; suitable candidates would be sought "in a wider field than up to now".Following the first set of appointments in April 2001, it was, however, pointed out that those chosen included several knights as well as leading academics and scientists, having much the same establishment background that would have been made peers anyway. The Labour MP Diane Abbott described them as "the metropolitan elite". Appointments The people recommended for appointment as life peers by the Commission since its establishment are listed below, by date of recommendation.WEB,weblink HOLAC Appointments, House of Lords Appointments Commission, 30 July 2009, 7 September 2009, WEB,weblink Archived copy, www.brickcourt.co.uk, 13 January 2022,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190528174354weblink">weblink 28 May 2019, dead, WEB,weblink Two new non-party-political peers, House of Lords Appointments Commission, 24 February 2021, 13 March 2021, WEB,weblink Two new non-party-political peers, House of Lords Appointments Commission, 17 May 2022, 19 May 2022, WEB,weblink Two new non-party-political peers – House of Lords Appointments Commission, www.ordsappointments.independent.gov.uk, 26 April 2001 Victor Adebowale CBE Richard Best OBE Amir Bhatia OBE Sir John Browne Michael Chan MBE Sir Paul Condon QPM Ilora Finlay Susan Greenfield CBE Sir David Hannay GCMG CH Valerie Howarth Lady Howe of Aberavon CBE Sir Robert May AC Sir Claus Moser KCB CBE Sir Herman Ouseley Sir Stewart Sutherland 1 May 2004 Sir Alec Broers Nicola Chapman Sir Ewen Cameron Frances D'Souza CMG Elaine Murphy Lola Young OBE Diljit Rana MBE 22 March 2005 Dame Rennie Fritchie DBE General Sir David Ramsbotham GCB CBE 22 July 2005 Dame Ruth Deech DBE Michael Hastings CBE Sir Martin Rees Adair Turner Jo Valentine 3 May 2006 Colin Low CBE Sir David Rowe-Beddoe Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss GBE Sir Geoffrey Dear QPM Kamlesh Patel OBE Karan Bilimoria CBE Molly Meacher 15 February 2007 Paul Bew Dame Jane Campbell DBE Jean Coussins Khalid Hameed CBE Sir John Krebs Andrew Mawson OBE 18 October 2007 Haleh Afshar OBE Sir Nicholas Stern 18 April 2008 The Hon. Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller DCB Sir John Mogg KCMG Sir Robert Smith 29 September 2008 Susan Campbell CBE David Pannick QC 13 July 2009 Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks Dame Nuala O'Loan DBE 5 February 2010 Sir Michael Bichard KCB Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE Tony Hall CBE Ajay Kakkar 5 October 2010 Peter Hennessy Sheila Hollins 5 September 2011 Indarjit Singh CBE Sir Donald Curry CBE 17 May 2012 Beeban Kidron OBE Alexander Trees 27 February 2013 Martha Lane Fox CBE Michael Berkeley CBE 13 October 2015 John Bird MBE Dame Julia King DBE Robert Mair CBE Mary Watkins 8 June 2018 Sir David Anderson KBE QC Rosie Boycott Deborah Bull CBE 24 February 2021 Dame Sue Black DBE Sir Amyas Morse KCB 17 May 2022 Shaista Gohir OBE Katherine Willis CBE 7 May 2024 Alexandra Freeman Lionel Tarassenko CBE Objections to prime ministers' nominations In March 2006, the Commission objected to several men proposed for working peerages by Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had loaned large amounts of money to Blair's Labour Party. This led to the "Cash-for-Honours scandal."In 2020, the Commission objected to the nomination of Peter Cruddas for a peerage by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Cruddas had donated over £1,000,000 to Johnson's Conservative Party. Johnson nonetheless decided that the appointment should proceed, becoming the first ever prime minister to overrule an advice of the Commission.NEWS, 2020-12-22, Peter Cruddas: PM overrules watchdog with Tory donor peerage, BBC News,weblink 2020-12-23, It was reported in 2023 that eight nominations for life peerages in Boris Johnson's resignation honours were blocked by the commission.NEWS, Hymas, Charles, Riley-Smith, Ben, 2023-06-11, Eight of Boris Johnson's picks for peerages blocked by Lords commission, en-GB, The Telegraph,weblink 2023-06-12, 0307-1235, See also Lords Reform References {{reflist}} External links House of Lords Appointments Commission {{Cabinet Office}}