Boris Johnson’s ex-aide ‘Charlotte Owen’ has served in parliament for five years and eight months
Charlotte Owen will become the country’s youngest life peer in history after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave his approval to Boris Johnson‘s honours list before Mr Johnson resigned as an MP on Friday.
The list names 38 honours and seven peerages, including former Downing Street chief of staff Dan Rosenfield and former London mayor Kulveer Singh Ranger.
However, Owen was one of the most discussed names on the list due to her age.
Who is Charlotte Owen?
Charlotte Owen is a 29-year-old former special adviser.
In 2015, Owen received a 2:1 in Politics and International Relations from the University of York.
Prior to taking a position as a special adviser to prime ministers Johnson and Liz Truss, she worked as an intern and parliamentary assistant. Owen split her time equally between Chris Heaton-Harris, the Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Mr Johnson.
Sky News’ Liz Bates said: “She’s had a few jobs in Parliament. One of those was working for Boris Johnson. She did in the end work for the Number 10 policy unit. And I think at the end of her political career she was working for Liz Truss and the chief whip at the time, not an illustrious political career by any stretch, but she will go to the House of Lords as well.”
She has served in parliament for approximately five years and eight months, meaning she has transitioned from parliamentary intern to Baroness in just six years.
Who else has been rewarded?
Along with Owen, other young peers include Ben Gascoigne and Ross Kempsell.
Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel, both former cabinet ministers of Johnson have also received recognition.
Along with previous ministers, Andrea Jenkyns and Amanda Milling have been nominated for a damehood.
Ben Houchen, the mayor of Tees Valley, and Shaun Bailey, a member of the London Assembly, are two of the new peers.
In order to prevent by-elections for the Conservatives, no serving MPs were given peerages. However, one will now exist in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Johnson’s home district.
Former minister Nadine Dorries and former Cop26 president Sir Alok Sharma were not put forward for the House of Lords. The government reportedly moved them at the last minute to avert the possibility of two potentially disastrous by-elections.
However, Grant Shapps, the secretary for energy security, claimed that Downing Street had no influence over peerage recommendations.
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