The prime minister will this weekend announce the appointment of over 20 new Labour working peers.

Dismissing charges of cronyism, the government is prepared to appoint a series of Labour loyalists to the upper house.

Among those set to be ennobled is Philip Gould, the prime minister's polling guru.

Others set for the Lords are said to include Anthony Giddens, the architect of the Blairite third way philosophy.

The appointments are likely to lead to fresh accusations that Tony Blair is packing the House of Lords with supporters and friends.

But Westminster speculation suggests the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will also lay themselves open to "jobs for the boys" charges.

Three of the five Conservative peerages appear set to go to party donors.

Dixons boss Stanley Kalms, Leonard Steinberg, who founded the Stanley leisure betting chain, and millionaire businessman Irvine Laidlaw are set to secure a place in the upper house.

Monaco-based tax exile Laidlaw is said to have agreed to move back to the UK in order to take his seat in the upper house.

The Liberal Democrats are set to secure eight new peers - with the appointment of Jane Bonham Carter, the girlfriend of Lib Dem peer Lord Razzall, likely to spark controversy.

It is also expected that the next wave of "people's peers" will be announced this weekend.

The first batch, which included Baroness Howe, the wife of former deputy prime minister Lord Howe, sparked accusations that the system was being used to push establishment figures into the second chamber.