Two long-serving peers are to be suspended from the House of Lords after a parliamentary watchdog ruled they had broken lobbying rules. Lord Evans of Watford, a Labour peer, will be suspended for five months, while Lord Dannatt, a former head of the British army, will be suspended for four months.
The breaches were uncovered by undercover footage recorded by the Guardian, which showed Lord Dannatt offering to secure meetings with ministers for a potential commercial client who wanted to lobby the government. Lord Evans was caught offering to introduce undercover reporters posing as property developers to fellow parliamentarians.
Lord Dannatt initially denied breaking the rules but later accepted the sanction, expressing regret and stating he was motivated by the national interest. The Lords conduct committee found he had exploited his status to lobby the government on behalf of commercial interests over two years, including writing to ministers and arranging meetings for companies that paid him.
Lord Evans, who has had the Labour whip removed, was found to have committed four separate breaches. The watchdog said his actions “could erode public trust in parliamentarians”. He has not yet commented on the suspension.
The inquiries followed investigations by the Guardian as part of its Lords debate project. Both lords are the latest to be punished after similar sanctions were imposed on other peers following Guardian reporting.
