MoneySavingExpert guru Martin Lewis turned down ‘again’ by House of Lords
MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis revealed he was turned down from getting a peerage multiple times.
The journalist said he had been rejected by the House of Lords appointment commission “again”, because he’d been “honest” about how often he could attend.
Speaking to the BBC’s Nick Robinson, Lewis said he had always had political ambitions and even considered running to be an MP, but is strictly not party-political.
“I had an interview and spoke about timings. Because most of the time that the Lords sits about three till 10pm on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.. I said, ‘Look, I need to be straight with you in terms of the hours I can give. I’m very busy with my job, but most importantly I have a nine-year-old daughter”.
He said it was a “a stumbling block” but the committee had asked him to re-apply.
Lewis made his comments in an interview with Nick Robinson, which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 1730 BST on Saturday.
The Commission told the BBC in response to Lewis’ comments that “appointments are made based on how people can contribute to the House, but are not determined on the basis of caring or family circumstances. It’s a very competitive process. We make very few appointments and consequently we have to turn down some very good candidates.”