Lord Evans of Watford, a Labour peer, is under formal investigation by the House of Lords standards watchdog following undercover footage by The Guardian. The Lords commissioners for standards announced that Evans, who is 82 years old, is being investigated for potential breaches of the House of Lords rules, including the requirement for peers to “act always on their personal honour” as parliamentarians. Evans claimed he had referred himself to the Lords standards commissioner last week and couldn’t comment further, but he had previously stated that he had not breached the code of conduct. The probe comes as two commercial events, at the heart of a suspected cash-for-access scheme run by Evans’ son, have been moved out of parliament. Initially planned to take place in the House of Lords in March and June, the events are now set to occur at the Royal Automobile Club in London. The Guardian revealed earlier that Evans had hosted commercial events in parliament on behalf of his son’s company, which charged up to £25,000 for sponsorship, with Evans having a one-third share in the business. In the footage, Evans was captured offering access to ministers during discussions about sponsorship. Evans denied any wrongdoing and has not received any payment related to the events. Campaigners have called for an official investigation into Evans, with the leader of the House of Lords, Angela Smith, stating that if he had broken the rules, he should not remain in the house. The relocation of the events to a private members’ club has raised questions about why they were initially planned for the parliamentary estate. Sharon Taylor, the Lords junior housing minister, who was scheduled to speak at the June event, has also pulled out. Neither Evans nor his son answered questions about offering refunds or the reasons behind the relocation. A spokesperson for Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner stated that she was unaware of the activities and had not been involved in any way.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/04/lords-watchdog-investigates-labour-peer-lord-evans-of-watford