Evgeny Lebedev, the Russian media mogul who owns the Independent and Evening Standard, has formally taken his seat in the House of Lords.
Handed a peerage alongside the likes of Jo Johnson – the prime minister’s brother – and cricket/Twitter legend Sir Ian Botham, Lebedev has taken the following title: Baron Lebedev of Hampton in our London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and of Siberia in the Russian Federation.
The 40-year-old – a close friend of Boris Johnson – reportedly had to ask Vladimir Putin for permission to call himself ‘Baron of Siberia’ – a request which, evidently, was granted. He will sit as an independent cross-bencher.
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