Lord Pearson accepts this is a risky strategy which may give more seats to the Tories.

BBC: UK Independence Party aim for Commons breakthrough

But the former leader of UKIP Lord Pearson of Rannoch championed the claims of non-mainstream medicine.

BBC: Peer berates funding of 'mumbo jumbo' degrees

Many were upset by Lord Pearson's policy of not challenging Eurosceptic Conservative candidates at the general election.

BBC: UKIP considers leadership hopefuls

In the Lords, UK Independence Party peer Lord Pearson of Rannoch urged the government to examine the training offered to care workers.

BBC: Statement on Winterbourne View

That honour belongs to his friend, the former Tory peer Lord Pearson.

BBC: What now for UKIP's Nigel Farage?

Ukip peer Lord Pearson of Rannoch has long campaigned for an inquiry into the "economic costs and benefits arising from our membership of the EU".

BBC: William Hague launches full 'audit' of EU law and the UK

Lord Pearson, a patron of the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine in the UK, prompted laughter from peers by suggesting he had "benefited much from it over the years".

BBC: Peer berates funding of 'mumbo jumbo' degrees

In 2010 it was led into the general election by Lord Pearson of Rannoch but again lost out, with just 3% of the vote across the UK, although there were signs of progress as it saved its deposit in 100 seats.

BBC: How UKIP became a British political force

Lord Stevenson, chairman of Pearson and a member of the Economist board, advises Mr Blair on information technology.

ECONOMIST: The new establishment

Lord Stevenson, the former chairman of Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, and HBOS, disclosed only after his retirement that he has had regular bouts of depression.

FORBES: Against All Stereotypes: Stress, Depression, Recovery, and Then?