A RIGGING row has erupted after Labour rebuffed Nigel Farage’s demand for Reform representation in the House of Lords.
The Brexiteer has no peers in the upper chamber and asked Sir Keir Starmer to grant some.
He sent a letter to the PM — who has ultimate say over appointments — arguing the “seismic shifts” in British politics merits some Reform seats.
Although they have just four MPs, Mr Farage’s party is leading national opinion polls .
He has in the past called for the Lords to be replaced with an elected chamber akin to that in the US.
Mr Farage said: “Whilst Reform UK believes in a reformed House of Lords, the time has come to address the democratic disparity there.”
But Defence Secretary John Healey told LBC: “This is the same Nigel Farage that called for the abolition of the House of Lords and now wants to fill it with his cronies.
“I’m not sure Parliament is going to benefit from more Putin apologists like Farage.”
While PMs technically have the final say on House of Lords appointments, they grant opposition parties some peers.
When Sir Keir nominated 30 Labour lords in December, he allowed six Tories to be elevated to the upper legislature.
Hitting back at Mr Healey’s remarks, Reform deputy Richard Tice last night accused Labour of not playing fair.
Denying they were “Putin apologists”, he told The Sun: “It’s a democratic outrage and another old-fashioned establishment stitch-up. They are essentially rigging the system against the new party, changing the rules of the game.”
In his letter, Mr Farage noted Lib Dems have 76 peers but received 600,000 fewer votes than Reform last year.
Sir Keir previously pledged to abolish the Lords but he is not expected to carry out plans before the next election .
