Botham is the latest in a long line of Tory friends and supporters to get jobs

Appointments have prompted accusations of ‘chumocracy’ around Boris Johnson, reports Andrew Woodcock

The cricket legend has been named trade envoy to Australia (PA)

On the face of it, the appointment of Ian Botham as trade envoy to Australia can probably be chalked up as the latest in a long line of prime ministerial actions taken primarily in the hope that some of the glamour of celebrity will rub off on the politician.

Botham’s new job will not require him to get involved in the complex work of trade negotiations, but is a promotional role where a famous face may well help grab a little bit of Aussie attention for UK exporters hoping to sell their products Down Under.

And the selection of one of England’s greatest all-time cricketing heroes has delivered a quick result in terms of positive headlines for Boris Johnson in a summer otherwise dominated by the debacle of the Afghanistan withdrawal and continuing questions over the government’s handling of Covid.

However, viewed more widely, it adds to the perception of the prime minister rewarding friends and supporters by repeatedly handing out official posts to people who could be viewed charitably as sympathisers and more harshly as cronies.

The elevation of Baron Botham – as we must now call him – to the House of Lords was itself the trigger for many raised eyebrows, with questions asked over whether it was a reward for vocal support of Brexit in the EU referendum campaign of 2016. His knighthood in 2007 for services to charity and cricket was no surprise, but few sportspeople achieve the ultimate accolade of a peerage.

Alongside “Lord Beefy” on the 2020 list of new lords were the prime minister’s former editor Charles Moore, his close adviser Edward Lister and his brother Jo Johnson, along with a number of prominent Brexiteers, sparking accusations that the ermine was being used as a reward for cronies.

While Lord Moore did not eventually become chair of the BBC and fellow Tory-supporting former editor Paul Dacre did not secure the top job at media regulator Ofcom, the very fact that their names were being floated for the posts was seen as a signal that the government was not interested in applicants who might be less sympathetic to Johnson. And that impression was cemented when the BBC chair eventually went to major Tory donor Richard Sharp, a former adviser to chancellor Rishi Sunak.

As the Covid pandemic took hold, further opportunities arose for Conservative supporters and friends of ministers to be handed significant roles. Conservative life peer Dido Harding – the wife of a Tory MP and ennobled by her long-time friend David Cameron – was appointed to head both NHS Test and Trace and NHS Improvement despite no background in healthcare. Gina Coladangelo, appointed non-executive director of the Department of Health, was a university friend of then health secretary Matt Hancock and – it later transpired – his lover. A whole string of contracts were awarded to people with links to ministers or to the Conservative Party.

It emerged that Conservative co-chair and Old Etonian Ben Elliot had established an “advisory board” with regular access to Johnson and Sunak and open only to those ready to give £250,000 a year to the party.

And most recently, Johnson’s Oxford friend and fellow Bullingdon Club member Ewen Fergusson was appointed to a five-year stint on the Committee on Standards in Public Life, the very watchdog entrusted with the task of keeping sleaze out of British politics. The appointment was denounced as “completely inappropriate” by a former chair of the committee and prompted a protest from current chair Lord Evans that the eight-member panel needs to be more “visibly diverse”.

All of these appointments and more will be defended by No 10 as individually merited. Johnson’s spokesperson stressed that Botham’s business experience as a wine producer and familiarity with Australia from many cricketing tours would stand him in good stead when promoting UK brands there.

But the longer the list grows of Tory friends and supporters and donors who end up in plum posts representing the UK and its institutions, the harder it will be for Johnson to shake off the allegation that he is presiding over at best a “chumocracy” and at worst a crony state.