PwC will act as recruitment consultants and will be tasked with sifting through applications to find the chairman and three independent members of the commission which forms a key part of the controversial plans to reform the Lords. The commission is a non-departmental public body charged with running a nominations system for cross-bench peers. The prime minister will have no right to reject a nomination made by the commission. Margaret Jay, leader of the House of Lords, said: ‘It is important that the process of selecting candidates to sit on the Appointments Commission is transparent and open. These posts are not reserved for a chosen few but are open to the best, most suitably qualified candidates.’ The prime minister currently nominates cross-benchers, a function that will switch to the commission in the late spring.