Image source, EPALondon Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan is one of 26 new peers to be given seats in the House of Lords in one of Sir Keir Starmer’s last acts as prime minister.
Sir Sadiq has been nominated to become a Labour Lord alongside 15 others, including broadcaster June Sarpong and former union chief Christina McAnea.
Joining the Lords would allow Sir Sadiq to become a government minister but the BBC understands he is not seeking a role in Andy Burnham’s incoming government.
The government has also announced five new peers from the Liberal Democrats, three from the Conservatives and two cross-bench members, the former cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald and Sir Brian Leveson, a retired senior judge.
Downing Street published a list of the nominations, external and said the King “has been graciously pleased to signify his intention of conferring peerages”.
The nominations come as Sir Keir prepares to leave office on Monday, when Burnham is due to become the next prime minister.
Sir Sadiq’s nomination was among the most eye-catching on the list.
The former Labour MP is mid-way through his third term as London mayor, having first been elected in 2016. The BBC has been told he has not yet decided whether he wants to seek a fourth term as mayor in 2028.
A government source praised Sir Sadiq as “a brilliant mayor who has transformed London for the better” and said his peerage was “thoroughly deserved”.
“He has cut violent crime to record lows, cleaned up the capital’s air, delivered the Elizabeth Line, and got London building council homes again,” the source said.
A spokesperson for the mayor said Sir Sadiq was “honoured to be given a peerage”.
“He is excited about what more can be delivered in the years ahead and he will devote his time and energy to standing up for our city and building a fairer, safer and greener London for everyone,” the mayor’s spokesperson said.
The BBC has been told this was a cross-party list of nominations that was being worked on before Sir Keir announced his resignation as Labour leader last month.
It is a list of “political peerages” rather than resignation honours prime ministers usually grant on their departure from office.
It comes after Sir Keir signalled he could hand out resignation honours when he leaves Downing Street, despite saying in 2023 he found giving out such awards “very hard to justify”.
Image source, Getty ImagesReform UK was not granted any peerages in the list published on Thursday.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the appointments were “the uniparty writ large”.
“Once again there is nothing for Reform and we get an even more unrepresentative upper house,” Farage said.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he was “delighted” agricultural economist Julia Aglionby, former Barnsley councillor Hannah Kitching, economist Tim Leunig, campaigns director Dave McCobb and offshore wind entrepreneur Mark Petterson would be joining his party’s ranks in the Lords.
“Each of them has the right skills, experience and values to help us hold the Government to account, deliver the change people need, and fix our broken politics, including reforming the House of Lords,” Sir Ed said.
The former head of the army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, has been made a Conservative peer alongside Carphone Warehouse co-founder David Ross and Swaran Singh, professor of social and community psychiatry at the University of Warwick.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We are delighted that David, Sir Patrick and Professor Singh will be joining the Conservative team in the House of Lords.
“They each bring immense experience from the worlds of business, defence and healthcare.”
Members of the House of Lords are generally appointed by the King on the advice of the prime minister.
Once a nominee passes vetting, appointments to the Lords are formalised by the King.
In 2022, Labour said it planned to abolish the Lords, replacing it with a “new, reformed upper chamber”.
But this was watered down, with Labour committing to consider plans for an alternative second chamber, whilst immediately axing the 92 places for hereditary peers, which it did this year.
Burnham has called for a complete overhaul of the unelected Lords.
“I don’t think we can justify half of our national legislature being unelected,” Burnham told The House magazine last month.
“I think this is something that is, in many ways, quite scandalous.”
The Electoral Reform Society campaign said Labour’s supporters would be baffled by the latest appointments to the Lords given its plans to reform the chamber.
“The next prime minister needs to make good on the promise of reform and turn the Lords into a smaller, democratic chamber that is more representative of and accountable to the people of this country,” said Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society.
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