As the Prime Minister celebrates his first year in office he is set to reward Brexit loyalists by offering them peerages, thus making them members of the House of Lords.
Sir Ian Botham will be a recipient of this offer, according to The Times. Affectionately known as Beefy, Sir Ian is considered one of the greatest England cricketers of all time, with 5,200 test runs and 383 wickets.
Sir Ian publically supported the Vote Leave campaign and regularly appeared with Mr Johnson prior to the referendum.
When appearing with Mr Johnson at a County Durham event he said: “I have been lucky enough to grow up in a wonderful country, a country that has always been able to look after itself.”
He continued, saying that he felt power had been “eroded by Brussels” adding “enough’s enough.” If the EU was inviting the UK to join afresh, Sir Ian said we would “give it a very wide berth.”
Other peerage offers will be made to four ex-Labour MPs, including Gisela Stuart and Frank Field, both of whom supported the Vote Leave campaign in the referendum.
John Woodcock and Ian Austin are also set to be offered a peerage. Although they both backed Remain, they did vote for Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal and both went on record urging Labour voters not to support Jeremy Corbyn in the election.
In an attempt to make amends, Mr Johnson will offer peerages to Ken Clarke, Ed Vaizey and Philip Hammond. All of whom had the party whip withdrawn for supporting attempts to pass legislation to block a no-deal Brexit.
The full list of the 30 new peers will be announced by Downing Street later this month.
