With Sir Keir Starmer demanding an investigation into how Boris Johnson allegedly disregarded the intelligence services when he elevated Evgeny Lebedev to the peerage, the noble lord has, along with so many other Russian oligarchs, disappeared from public view. Mandrake hears that Lebedev’s favourite motor yacht has been at anchor in the Caribbean since Vladimir Putin began his assault on Ukraine.
Lebedev’s absence means that he is at risk of being relieved of his title, since the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 states that peers who fail to attend proceedings for a whole session will have their membership terminated. Lebedev became a member in November 2020, but a session is generally deemed to run from spring to spring. Lord Ken Clarke, who introduced Lebedev to the Lords, told me it had been a disappointment to him that he had not physically materialised in the Lords since he gave his maiden speech in a video call last May.
“The lockdown rules obviously complicate matters, but Lebedev has been a pretty useless member, with our website showing no voting record for him at all,” a fellow peer tells me. “He made bold promises in his maiden speech about standing shoulder-to-shoulder with all those in the upper house who were fighting for freedom of speech, but I’ve seen him on no one’s shoulder. Ironically, Lord Owen, in his welcoming speech, said he wished to hear a lot more from him.”
Of course, it may well come as a relief to Johnson if Lebedev is removed from the Lords as it would take the pressure off him to disclose the intelligence services’ advice he received in relation to his honour. This advice could well be embarrassing as he professes himself to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with President Zelensky against Putin.
