Sue Gray, Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, nominated for peerage
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Sir Keir Starmer has nominated his former top adviser Sue Gray for a peerage.
Ms Gray, whose report into the partygate scandal contributed to the downfall of former prime minister Boris Johnson, is among 30 new Labour peerages announced ahead of Christmas to redress the party “imbalance” in the House of Lords.
The Conservatives have nominated six people, and the Liberal Democrats two.
Other notable names include:
• Carwyn Jones – former Labour Welsh first minister
• Thangam Debbonaire – former Labour shadow cabinet minister who lost her seat unexpectedly at the general election
• Dame Therese Coffey – former Conservative deputy prime minister
• Toby Young – founder and director of the Free Speech Union, and associate editor of The Spectator.
Ms Gray was widely expected to be nominated after leaving her role as Sir Keir’s chief of staff in October following an internal power struggle in Downing Street.
Toby Young. File pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
The former civil servant was then appointed to a newly created nations and regions position within Number 10, however, it was confirmed in November she would not be taking up the role.
In 2022, Labour unveiled proposals to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with a “reformed upper chamber”.
However, ahead of the general election this year, the plans were scaled back, with Sir Keir instead pledging to remove the 92 hereditary peers and introduce an age cap of 80.
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Ex-Labour shadow minister Thangam Debbonaire lost her seat to Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer. Pic: LNP/Shutterstock
It is understood Sir Keir has made the nominations in an attempt to tilt the balance towards Labour in the second chamber.
A Labour source told Sky News: “The Tories stuffed the House of Lords, creating a serious imbalance in the chamber. This needs to be corrected to drive through the government’s plan for change and deliver on our mandate from the British people.
“We are committed to an overdue programme of reform and have already laid legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords.”
Therese Coffey was deputy PM under Liz Truss and then environment secretary under Rishi Sunak before losing her seat. Pic: PA
A surprise decision – and one that may fuel distrust
The decision to send 30 Labour loyalists to the House of Lords is surprising to say the least.
Because it’s not that long ago that Labour said they wanted to reform the House, stripping it back and getting rid of hereditary peers.
But now a load of Labour allies are heading in and that will inevitably re-ignite accusations that this is nothing more than political favouritism.
This is about the numbers too, the political power struggle in the House of Lords.
At the moment, there are 86 more Conservative than Labour peers in the House of Lords. Today’s new appointments do change things slightly – adding just six new Conservative peers and 30 new Labour peers.
But if the bill to remove hereditary peers from the Lords passes, the number of Labour and Conservative peers would get even closer – just 21 more Conservatives than Labour peers.
The list is wide and varied – former Labour MPs, trade unionists and figures from the worlds of healthcare, religion and business.
But amid all their talk of reform, it is obvious that very little changes, the old traditions remain alive and well.
And at a time when trust in politics among the general public is falling, a system based on patronage and not merit will only fuel allegations of a corrupt, self-serving system.
During the 14 years the Conservatives were in power, the number of Tory peers rose to 273 while there are 187 Labour peers, 78 Liberal Democrat peers and 184 crossbenchers, who are not affiliated to any political party.
That will now rise to 217 Labour peers, 279 Conservatives and 80 Lib Dems.
The independent House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) will now vet the nominations before the prime minister recommends them to the King.
A title then has to be agreed and legal documents called the writ of summons are issued by parliament, and a letters patent issued by the King to create a life peerage. They can then sit in the House of Lords and vote.
The full list of peerages:
Labour:
Professor Wendy Alexander FRSE
Sir Brendan Barber
Luciana Berger
Mary Bousted
Kevin Brennan
Lyn Brown
Dinah Caine OBE CBE
Kay Carberry CBE
Margaret Curran
Thangam Debbonaire
Julie Elliott
David Evans
Sue Gray
Theresa Griffin
Anji Hunter
Carwyn Jones
Mike Katz
Gerard Lemos CMG CBE
Alison Levitt KC
Anne Longfield CBE
Deborah Mattinson
Steve McCabe
Claude Moraes OBE
Wendy Nichols
Simon Pitkeathley
Dame Anne Marie Rafferty DBE FRCN
Krish Raval OBE
Marvin Rees OBE
Revd Dr Russell David Rook OBE
Phil Wilson
Conservatives:
Nigel Biggar CBE
Joanne Cash
Rt Hon Dame Therese Coffey PhD
Roger Evans
Rachel Maclean
Toby Young
Liberal Democrats:
Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed MBE
Dr Mark Pack
