Sadiq Khan among 26 new peers appointed in Starmer's final act as PM

Sir Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, is to enter the House of Lords as one of 26 new peers appointed in Sir Keir Starmer's last acts as prime minister. The list, published by Downing Street, includes 16 Labour peers, among them broadcaster June Sarpong and former Unison general secretary Christina McAnea, alongside five Liberal Democrats, three Conservatives and two cross-benchers: former cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald and retired senior judge Sir Brian Leveson. A government source praised Khan as “a brilliant mayor who has transformed London for the better”, adding: “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.” A spokesperson for the mayor said Khan was “honoured to be given a peerage” and “excited about what more can be delivered in the years ahead”. The nomination allows Khan to become a government minister, but the BBC understands he is not seeking a role in Andy Burnham's incoming government. Khan is mid-way through his third term as mayor, having first been elected in 2016, and has not yet decided whether to seek a fourth term in 2028. The list was being worked on before Starmer announced his resignation as Labour leader last month, and is described as “political peerages” rather than a resignation honours list. Starmer had said in 2023 he found honours “very hard to justify” and would not submit a traditional list, but later signalled he might. Reform UK was not granted any peerages; its leader, Nigel Farage, called the appointments “the uniparty writ large” and said “we get an even more unrepresentative upper house”. Starmer is due to leave office on Monday, when Burnham becomes prime minister.