Sir Keir Starmer has handed a peerage to Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, on the Prime Minister’s last full day as Labour leader. The move means Khan will become a Labour member of the House of Lords, although his full title has not yet been announced.
Potential government role for Khan
As Khan will be sitting in Parliament, this would make it possible for incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham to appoint Khan to his government. However, it is understood he is not interested in becoming a minister and will concentrate on his role in the capital.
A spokesperson for the Mayor said he was ‘honoured’ to receive a peerage. He continued: ‘London gave Sadiq the opportunities to go from a council estate to being Mayor of London, and his focus will continue to be ensuring that all Londoners get the same shot at reaching their full potential that London gave him and his family.’
Khan's achievements highlighted
A government source said: ‘Sadiq has been a brilliant mayor who has transformed London for the better, so this is 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.’
Among the 25 others given peerages in the newly released list is broadcaster June Sarpong who will sit on the Labour benches. Sir Chris Wormald, who was Starmer’s cabinet secretary until he resigned in February, and Sir Brian Leveson, the retired judge who chaired the Leveson Inquiry into the British press and conducted a review into criminal courts, have been appointed as crossbench peers.
Burnham's plans for Lords reform
This morning, the i newspaper reported Burnham is planning to appoint the UK’s metro mayors to the House of Lords himself. The move would be intended as a first step in a shift towards an upper chamber that is more representative of people across the UK, the news site said.
In his 2024 book Head North, written with Liverpool Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, Burnham calls the current system of Parliament with the unelected Lords ‘actually a national embarrassment’. He writes: ‘We have an elected chamber that nods Bills through unchallenged and an unelected chamber heavily drawn from the higher social classes and one part of the country which regularly rewrites legislation. It’s wild when you think about it. Parliament has got things the wrong way round and that’s why we need reform of both houses.’
