House of Lords

====Cash for peerages====
The [[Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925]]<ref>{{cite legislation UK | type = act| year = 1925| chapter = 72| act = Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925}}</ref> made it illegal for a peerage, or other honour, to be bought or sold. Nonetheless, there have been repeated allegations that life peerages (and thus membership of the House of Lords) have been made available to major political donors in exchange for donations. The most prominent example, the [[Cash for Honours|Cash for Honours scandal]] in 2006, saw a police investigation, with no charges being brought. A 2015 study found that of 303 people nominated for peerages in the period 2005–2014, a total of 211 were former senior figures within politics (including former MPs), or were non-political appointments. Of the remaining 92 political appointments from outside public life, 27 had made significant donations to political parties. The authors concluded firstly that nominees from outside public life were much more likely to have made large gifts than peers nominated after prior political or public service. They also found that significant donors to parties were far more likely to be nominated for peerages than other party members.<ref>Mell, Radford and Thevoz. [http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/Department-of-Economics-Discussion-Paper-Series/is-there-a-market-for-peerages-can-donations-buy-you-a-british-peerage-a-study-in-the-link-between-party-political-funding-and-peerage-nominations-2005 "Is There a Market for Peerages? Can Donations Buy You a British Peerage? A Study in the Link Between Party Political Funding and Peerage Nominations, 2005–14"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226113629/https://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/department-of-economics-discussion-paper-series/is-there-a-market-for-peerages-can-donations-buy-you-a-british-peerage-a-study-in-the-link-between-party-political-funding-and-peerage-nominations-2005 |date=26 December 2018}}. University of Oxford, pp. 8, 13, 17, 22; Radford, Mell and Thevoz, [https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1057/s41293-019-00109-4?author_access_token=eD-gUcX8cIBPRSZFBSgD1lxOt48VBPO10Uv7D6sAgHs0ICHQ6nY973f5GBcBCfumHYlg_B1c1MXaCfXDIyGZLQCvWKKGxp5zqp2sh6dJsVYGQZcTKrrYWqjdJsMpqVGlBErzo4bhSTlw9gJT9OAncA%3D%3D {{"'}}Lordy Me!' Can donations buy you a British peerage? A study in the link between party political funding and peerage nominations, 2005–2014"], ''[[British Politics (journal)|British Politics]]'' – first published online, 14 March 2019.</ref>