Starmer names Sadiq Khan among 26 new life peer nominees
London’s mayor is on Keir Starmer’s final peerages list, giving him and 25 others seats in the House of Lords.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been nominated for a life peerage in the House of Lords, placing him among 26 people selected in one of Keir Starmer’s last acts as British prime minister. The appointments matter because life peers can take part in scrutiny, revision and votes on United Kingdom legislation in the unelected upper chamber.
The UK government said Thursday that Khan was included in a group of nominees drawn from politics, philanthropy, social action, the military and business. Al Jazeera reported that the list forms part of Starmer’s final round of political appointments before a change in Labour leadership and the premiership.
Khan, a former Labour member of Parliament for Tooting, is midway through his third term as mayor of London, according to Al Jazeera. He first won the mayoralty in 2016.
Outgoing prime ministers traditionally put forward names for political peerages, according to Al Jazeera. Those chosen become life peers, giving them the right to sit in the House of Lords for the rest of their lives.
Party split in the new list
Of the 26 nominees, Labour put forward 16, the Liberal Democrats named five, the Conservatives nominated three and two were selected as crossbench peers with no party affiliation, Al Jazeera reported.
Labour’s nominations include Parvais Jabbar and Saul Lehrfreund, human rights campaigners who co-founded the Death Penalty Project, according to Al Jazeera. Cathy Ashley, described by Al Jazeera as a families’ rights campaigner and former head of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, was also among Labour’s selections.
The Conservative nominees include former Chief of the General Staff of the British Army General Sir Patrick Sanders, Al Jazeera reported. The Liberal Democrats nominated economist Tim Leunig, the chief economist at Nesta, a British social innovation foundation.
One of the two crossbench nominees is Sir Brian Leveson, the former senior judge who led the 2011 Leveson Inquiry into the conduct of the British press after the phone-hacking scandal, according to Al Jazeera.
Reform UK left off the list
Starmer gave no nominations to Reform UK, Al Jazeera reported. The party has seven members of Parliament in the House of Commons after Nigel Farage’s resignation earlier this month, while Farage remains party leader, according to the report.
Farage criticised the decision, saying: “Once again, there is nothing for Reform and we get an even more unrepresentative upper house.”
The appointments come before Andy Burnham is expected to succeed Starmer as Labour leader on Friday and as UK prime minister on Monday, July 20, according to Al Jazeera.
Before the latest appointments, Conservatives held 246 seats in the House of Lords and Labour held 216, leaving the opposition with a numerical advantage in the chamber, Al Jazeera reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.