The report into Lord Anthony Lester’s conduct in the House of Lords finds that he promised a woman “If you sleep with me, I will make you a baroness within a year”.
The Lords Privileges Committee has called for him to be suspended from the House of Lords in response to the Lord being accused of sexual harassment.
If carried out and upheld, the recommended suspension will last until 2022 and this will be the longest suspension of a parliamentary official in modern history.
The report shows that a complaint was received in 2017 which started the investigation. It was also revealed that Lord Lester revealed the name of the complainant to another peer, blaming her for his suspension from his party, this breached confidentiality rules.
In their report, the Privileges Committee stated that Lord Lester of Herne Hill:
“offered her [the complainant] a corrupt inducement to become his mistress, and had warned her of unspecified consequences if she did not accept his offer.”
An acclaimed Human Rights Lawyer, aged 82 and currently suspended from his party the Liberal Democrats, he has been a peer since 1993. Lord Lester also played a major role in the creation of the UK’s race and gender equality laws.
In response, the peer made a statement claiming that the allegations are false.
A spokesperson from the Liberal Democrats said: “Anthony Lester has been suspended from the Liberal Democrats and is no longer a member of the Liberal Democrat group in the House of Lords.”
