British Justice Minister Michael Wills has condemned Queen Elizabeth's advisors as being "too white". The Labour man accused the Queen's lord lieutenants as lacking diversity and said they were in danger of losing the confidence of the public. Speaking to other MPs investigating Labour’s constitutional reforms, Mr Wills said: “We have to make sure that lord lieutenants – who play an extremely important part in our civic life – continue to command the confidence of all of our constituents. “At the moment they do, but diversity and proper representation are going to be important for that to continue in the future – there is no question of that.”
The Conservative Party scoffed at Mr Wills' claims, with Tory MP Andrew Turner saying: “Once again the Government is messing around unnecessarily with something that works perfectly well. Lord lieutenants are getting on with their job – the minister admits there has not been a single complaint about them. It is just pointless political correctness. It seems mad to be making a fuss about this when there are so many more important things to deal with.”
Buckingham Palace refused to get involved in the debate except to say: “We do not put the names forward. Any questions about the nominations are very much a matter for Government.”
The Queen's Lord Lieutenants organise any official visits, represent HM at events, help nominate honour recipients and magistrates and about a third are women.
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