Ex-cricketer Ian Botham makes first appearance at different kind of Lords as he is formally introduced as a peer
- Cricket star Ian Botham has introduction ceremony as a House of Lords peer
- Boris Johnson nominated Ian Botham in his dissolution honours list in August
- Tech issues meant delays and Lord Speaker joked: ‘I think rain has stopped play’
England cricketing hero Ian Botham has made his first appearance at the House of Lords.
Lord Botham wore the traditional scarlet and ermine-trimmed robe for his brief formal introduction ceremony as a peer.
The Brexit backer, more used to the surroundings of Lord’s Cricket Ground, swore the oath of allegiance to the Queen as part of the ceremony.
Lord Botham wore the traditional scarlet and ermine-trimmed robe for his brief formal introduction ceremony as a peer
Technical problems delayed the start of proceedings, with Lord Speaker Lord Fowler telling peers: ‘It means at the moment no words can be heard outside the House, which is a slight disadvantage.’
Lord Botham enjoyed a glittering cricket career, at one stage becoming England’s leading wicket-taker in tests. He is pictured above during a test match between England and Australia in July 1981
After consultations with clerks, Lord Fowler prompted groans and laughs by saying: ‘I think rain has stopped play just for the moment.’
They pressed on with the introductions, with Lord Botham supported by Tory peer Lord Price and former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Judge, an independent crossbencher.
The clerk referred to him as Baron Botham of Ravensworth, his home village, however he will be known as Lord Botham.
Lord Botham told the chamber: ‘I, Ian Lord Botham, do swear by almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and her successors, according to the law. So help me God.’
He will sit as a non-party political crossbench peer.
The Brexit backer, more used to the surroundings of Lord’s Cricket Ground, swore the oath of allegiance to the Queen as part of the ceremony
In August, Boris Johnson nominated 36 new peers in his dissolution honours list – including Lord Botham.
The list, which also included the Prime Minister’s brother Jo Johnson and newspaper proprietor Evgeny Lebedev, prompted accusations of ‘cronyism’ and of failing to respect efforts to reduce the number of peers sitting in Parliament.
Lord Botham enjoyed a glittering cricket career, at one stage becoming England’s leading wicket-taker in tests, and is also known for his TV and charity work.
Tory peer Lord Moylan was also introduced on Monday.
He served as airport adviser to Boris Johnson when he was London mayor.
How Ian Botham went from cricket star to House of Lords peer
Ian Botham joined the grounds staff at the Lords aged just 16. His professional cricket career took off when he played for Somerset and then for England.
Botham became a household name after the 1981 Ashes match and in 1985 the cricket star staged his first of many charity walks.
The first one in 1985 saw Botham walk from John O’Groats in Scotland down to Land’s End in Cornwall.
While away from home in the 1990s, he embarked on a two-year affair with Australian waitress Kylie Verrells and confessed to his family in 2001.
an Botham joined the grounds staff at the Lords aged just 16. His professional cricket career took off when he played for Somerset and then for England
He told Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2014: ‘To this day, I still don’t know why that period of time happened’.
‘It nearly cost me everything that’s so important to me’.
In the 2016 EU referendum campaign, he supported the Leave campaign and said that Britain ‘had lost the right to govern itself, to make our own laws and to choose who comes here’.
In 2018 he joined forces with drinks boss Paul Schaafsma to make his own range of wines, Ian Botham Wines.
According to The Grocer, Botham said of the wine range: ‘[Paul] phoned me up and said ‘What do you really want to do? Do you want to make your own wine?’ From there it was a whistle stop tour to Spain, New Zealand, and on searching for the best we could get.’
The website states that each wine ‘is personal to Sir and represents a pivotal moment in his cricketing career life’.
Botham says on the website: ‘In making these wines, I’ve travelled across Australia and New Zealand and visited many of the wine making hot spots that each country has to offer, tasting and blending as I go’.