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| Andrew Lloyd Webber quits as Conservative peer | Andrew Lloyd Webber quits as Conservative peer |
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| Theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber has quit as a Conservative peer, saying his busy schedule is incompatible with the demands of the House of Lords with crucial Brexit legislation ahead. | Theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber has quit as a Conservative peer, saying his busy schedule is incompatible with the demands of the House of Lords with crucial Brexit legislation ahead. |
| Lloyd Webber, whose musicals include Cats and Phantom of the Opera, was given a peerage in 1997 but has not spoken in the House of Lords this year. | |
| In a letter sent to the Conservative chief whip, first reported by the Mirror, Lloyd Webber said he was currently in the busiest period of his career, including long periods in the US, which meant he was unable to commit to attending key votes. | |
| “I have been privileged to be a member of the house for 20 years and resign with a heavy heart, but in the knowledge that what is expected from a member today is very different from what it was when I joined the house in 1997,” he wrote in the letter. | “I have been privileged to be a member of the house for 20 years and resign with a heavy heart, but in the knowledge that what is expected from a member today is very different from what it was when I joined the house in 1997,” he wrote in the letter. |
| “I have a work schedule stretching ahead of me that is the busiest of my career to date. This means it would be impossible for me to regularly vote or properly consider the vitally important issues that the House of Lords will face as a consequence of Brexit.” | “I have a work schedule stretching ahead of me that is the busiest of my career to date. This means it would be impossible for me to regularly vote or properly consider the vitally important issues that the House of Lords will face as a consequence of Brexit.” |
| Lloyd Webber said he felt his seat in the Lords should be taken by someone more able to fulfil the commitment of being a peer. | Lloyd Webber said he felt his seat in the Lords should be taken by someone more able to fulfil the commitment of being a peer. |
| “I feel my place should be taken by someone who can devote the time to the House of Lords that the current situation dictates,” he said. | “I feel my place should be taken by someone who can devote the time to the House of Lords that the current situation dictates,” he said. |
| “I have enjoyed my time in the House of Lords immensely and hope that my place can be taken by someone who can meet the demands and circumstances that the changing character of the House of Lords increasingly requires.” | “I have enjoyed my time in the House of Lords immensely and hope that my place can be taken by someone who can meet the demands and circumstances that the changing character of the House of Lords increasingly requires.” |
| In 2015 the composer, who is worth an estimated £650m, was criticised for returning from the US to vote against a Lords amendment that would have delayed Osborne’s tax credits cut for three years. Despite his vote the amendment passed. | |
| He later said he considered quitting the Conservative party after Osborne convinced him to vote on the amendment, saying last year: “I thought it was wrong.” | |
| He went on: “I was put in as an honour, not as a working peer. Not as lobby fodder. I’m fed up with the fact that I keep being asked now to go in and vote for things about which I don’t have knowledge.” |