Who is Charlotte Owen and why did Boris Johnson make her the youngest Peer in his Resignation Honours list?

Although Boris Johnson is no longer the acting prime minister, his time in office is still echoing around the British press this week following his announcement that he is fully resigning as an MP.

The decision to resign may have come after he received a report from the MP-led Privileges Committee debating whether he misled Parliament over the Partygate scandal, with a Covid-19 inquiry getting underway from tomorrow; but it also comes as people question Boris’ recently published resignation honour’s list.

Its publication follows a tradition where outgoing prime ministers have the opportunity to nominate people for honours. 

The infamous and long-awaited list, approved nine months after Boris stepped down as PM, was made live mere hours before his official resignation as an MP and included many of Boris’ allies from his time as prime minister including Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

However one name stuck out in particular to vetting committees albeit that they are powerless to change the list, as Boris’ former assistant Charlotte Owen was appointed as a peer, making her the youngest in British history.

Who is Charlotte Owen?

After graduating from York University in 2015 with a 2:1 in politics and international relations, Charlotte Owen started out as an intern for strategic communications consultancy Portland before entering the political sphere.

Prior to joining Boris Johnson’s team as a parliamentary assistant in February 2021, Ms Owen, full name Charlotte Kathryn Tranter Owen, worked briefly for Tory MP William Wragg as well as adding as an assistant to MPs Alok Sharma and Jake Berry to her CV.

Over the past year, Ms Owen officially split her time between assisting Boris Johnson when he was prime minister and the then-parliamentary secretary to the treasury Chris Heaton-Harris who also acted as Chief Whip.

As a result, the nearly 30-year-old will become the youngest life peer in British history after Boris named his ally on his 2022 Resignation Honours alongside other former aides Ben Gascoigne and Ross Kempsell.

Charlotte’s salary from her time at Downing Street has not been disclosed, highlighting that she was not paid more than £70,000 a year - the benchmark for payments to be made public.