Sadiq Khan to be handed peerage
Sadiq Khan is poised to be handed a peerage as part of an effort from Keir Starmer to placate one of the loudest Labour party critics of his stuttering administration.
According to reports, the London mayor is one of several contenders in line to be elevated to the UK’s second chamber after May’s local elections, which are shaping up to be a challenging night for the Prime Minister’s Labour party.
Khan, who was handed a knighthood by Starmer last year, is already the longest serving mayor in the capital’s history, having won a historic third term in 2024. The next mayoral election is not until 2028, opening up the prospect of a crunch mayoral byelection should he take up a seat in the Lords before then.
Since Labour’s landslide general election victory nearly two years ago, Khan been a regular thorn in the side of Starmer, unleashing a wave of broadsides often from the left flank of the party. The Labour grandee has been an outspoken critic of the administration’s multi-billion-pound bid to build a third runway at Heathrow airport, which he says needs to be “better, not a bigger”, and has reportedly consulted legal action over ministers’ current plans for the west London hub.
He has also led a major revolt against the Treasury’s failed bid to reduce the UK’s ballooning benefits bill and has waded in on several elements of Shabana Mahmood’s immigration crackdown.
Khan peerage part of push to replace hereditary cull
But Starmer’s bid to quash the string of criticism from City Hall is likely to open him up to a fresh wave accusations that he is filling the chamber with sympathetic voices for political gain.
No Prime Minister in modern history has handed out more peerages in their first two years than Starmer, who has overseen a major overhaul of the machinations of the upper house since being elected.
This month, the government followed through on its pre-election pledge to end Britain’s centuries-old tradition of hereditary peerages. All 84 of the last remaining Lords who inherited their titles will lose their birth-given seats as part of the shake-up, though some are set to be handed life-long peerages by opposition parties.
Khan’s potential elevation, first reported by the Financial Times, comes ahead of a crunch set of elections in May, which pose the biggest threat to Starmer’s premiership since his landslide election victory less than two years ago.
Officials quoted by the newspaper said the move would form part of a wider bid to “shore up” the Prime Minister’s standing with the party’s most recognised figures ahead of any rebellion.
The government’s attempts to fill the Lords with a fresh cohort of peers follows several key policy measures being held up by the second chamber. Both its flagship workers’ rights package and the assisted dying bill have been up in a process known as parliamentary ping pong, whereby peers refuse to ratify a piece of legislation and send it back to MPs with amendments.
The government was approached for comment.