LIZ Truss was defiant last night after triggering a row by handing gongs to allies despite only 49 days in office.
The ex-Prime Minister awarded peerages to Vote Leave bosses Matthew Elliott and Jon Moynihan — who gave £20,000 to her leadership campaign.
And long-term associate Ruth Porter, who served as Ms Truss’s chief of staff, will also be given a Life peerage.
The three were included in what Labour branded a “list of shame” when it was submitted nine months ago.
They called on Rishi Sunak to block it after his predecessor left office following a mini-Budget disaster which saw the Pound plummet.
Bullish Ms Truss stared down criticism saying it was right “these champions for the Conservative causes of freedom and a proud and sovereign Britain” be “suitably honoured.”
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Aides are hopeful Mr Sunak will avoid being dragged into the row as MPs do not return from recess until January 8.
But Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jonathan Ashworth insisted: “Rishi Sunak has nodded through these tarnished gongs because he is too weak to lead a Tory party completely out of touch with working people.”
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This shameless move to reward Liz Truss’s car-crash cronies is matched only by Sunak’s weakness in failing to block it.”
It is a long-standing convention that former PMs submit a resignation honours list.
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Ms Truss’s includes eight other colleagues.
A Government source said: “The convention is the incumbent Prime Minister does not block the political peerage proposals of others — be it those from past PMs or dubious Labour Party leader nominations of Tom Watson and Shami Chakrabarti.”
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Noa Hoffman
