Vince Cable, former business secretary, and Danny Alexander, former chief secretary to the Treasury, have both been knighted.
The government released the names of 45 new peers yesterday (27 August), which included former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling and former Tory foreign secretary and party leader William Hague.
Of these 32 are former politicians and seven used to work in the party machinery — a total of 85 per cent.
The FT calculated that non-political figures are taking up a relatively smaller proportion of space on the red benches.
Researchers from the UCL Constitution Unit found in 2010 that formerly elected politicians and their ex-staff made up 30 per cent of the chamber at the time.
The FT has studied the backgrounds of the 189 newcomers between the two general elections of May 2010 and May 2015.
Of these 68 had been elected politicians and 26 had been political staff — comprising 50 per cent of that new intake.
emma.hughes@ft.com
