[8][9] LabourList has called Lister a 'right-wing uber-privatiser' who privatised street cleaning and refuse collection, and sold off council housing.

During this time he became known among senior local government officials in London as 'Steady Eddie' because of the quality of the practical and restraining advice he offered to Johnson.

[24] In August 2019 Lister stepped down from his position at Homes England in order to focus on his newly created role as chief strategic adviser to Prime Minister Johnson.

[34] In 2019, Nigel Farage, then-Leader of the Brexit Party, alleged that Lister was involved in intimidation and offering bribes in exchange for political candidates stepping down.

[35] In February 2021, The Sunday Times reported that Lister was on the payroll of two developers, Stanhope and Delancey, while serving in government as chief strategic advisor to prime minister Boris Johnson, a role which commanded the highest salary band of any special adviser, between £140,000 and £149,000 a year.

That Lister invited Delancey owner, and Conservative Party donor, Jamie Ritblat into 10 Downing Street at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to advise on government policy relating to the construction sector, while being remunerated to sit on its board, a fact that was not then known, has also raised conflict of interest concerns amid the Greensill scandal.

Although the claims have been denied, it was reported that Lister arranged the sale of Royal Mint Court for the new Chinese embassy, while holding down a £15,000-a-year non-executive directorship on the board of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

He was also paid by both parties in the transaction: the consultancy advising the Chinese government and buying the land; and Delancey, the property company founded and run by Ritblat, who had the freehold.

[39] During his time at Homes England, Lister accepted donations totalling nearly half a million pounds from EcoWorld, a Malaysian property development firm, between 2016 and 2019.

This state aid, then the largest amount of money ever awarded by Homes England, was granted after an unexpected appearance by Lister at the body's investment committee.

In his register of interests, Lister had declared that he advised a firm called Dream Ltd, a formulation that has not been used before or since and is a reference to Delancey Real Estate Asset Management, according to The Sunday Times report.

In a statement to the newspaper, Lister conceded that he should have "fully" recused himself at the meeting, but said that he had never lobbied government in relation to the Delancey group.

[47] He made his House of Lords maiden speech on 19 May 2021, reflecting on being a councillor, the advantages of Brexit and working for Boris Johnson.