Evgeny Lebedev, Jo Johnson and Ian Botham among 36 peerage nominations

Also on list marking a year as PM for Boris Johnson are Ruth Davidson, Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond

Russian billionaire newspaper proprietor Evgeny Lebedev and the prime minister’s brother, Jo Johnson, are among dozens of new nominations for peerages announced by Downing Street, while Theresa May’s husband is set for a knighthood.

Evening Standard and Independent owner Lebedev, who held a party in Italy attended by Boris Johnson when he was foreign secretary, is a surprise name among the 36 life peerage nominations which have led to accusations of “cronyism” against the prime minister, although he is nominated as a crossbencher.

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