FURIOUS pro-democracy campaigners slammed Tory attempts yesterday to stuff the House of Lords with party stooges.

But David Cameron ignored accusations of cronyism and announced a string of peerages for Tory advisers and donors.

The government has faced a number of humiliating defeats in the Lords in recent years and campaigners have claimed that this was an attempt to stack the odds in the Tories’ favour and allow them to force through controversial legislation.