Lebedev and botham's lords attendance under fire

Evgeny Lebedev's title as the most relaxed member of the House of Lords has been challenged by Ian Botham, with both peers recording identical attendance rates of 1.12% over the past four years. Lebedev and Botham, appointed by Boris Johnson, managed to show up to just seven of the 625 sessions from 2022 to 2025.

Consolidating their spot

While Lebedev's attendance did improve slightly, from 1.25% between 2019 and 2022 to 1.12%, Botham maintained his initial enthusiasm, attending 26 sessions in 2021. Since then, Botham has only shown up to nine sessions in total, including twice in 2024 and 2025.

In contrast, Lebedev has voted twice and delivered one speech so far this year, a marked increase from his first six years where he never cast a ballot. Botham, meanwhile, has not spoken in the Lords since November 2020 and has not tabled any written questions since November 2024, having voted only 21 times since his appointment.

A house of lords in flux

The attendance record does not account for work on Lords committees, which can take up significant time, and neither Lebedev nor Botham have ever served on one. The Lords currently has 868 members, the largest legislative chamber in the world, with efforts to curb its size finding little success. Since Johnson's tenure, Keir Starmer has created 96 peers, continuing the trend of frequent appointments.