Eric Pickles admitted to the House of Lords

Former communities minister and Conservative Friends of Israel chairman Eric Pickles was admitted to the House of Lords this week in a special ceremony in Westminster.

Fellow peer Baroness Ros Altmann paid tribute to Pickles, who is the Government’s Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, saying that it was “a great party for a great man”.

Pickles, who stood down as an MP at the last election, said he was “proud to wear a symbol of Holocaust remembrance on my lapel during the ceremony”.