London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has been appointed to the House of Lords, the upper house in Britain’s Houses of Parliament, as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer prepares for his departure from office.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Labour Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has been elevated to Britain’s House of Lords by outgoing Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. 📺 DETAIL: On Thursday, it was announced that London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been granted a peerage by Prime Minister Starmer. Khan is among the 26 new appointees to the House of Lords, the unelected upper house of the Houses of Parliament, recommended by the outgoing Prime Minister. It is customary for outgoing Prime Ministers to elevate a select number of individuals to the House of Lords in their final days in office. The list includes 16 nominations from Labour Prime Minister Starmer, five from Sir Ed Davey, leader of the progressive, pro-European Union Liberal Democrat party, and three from Kemi Badenoch, leader of the nominal Conservative party. None of been granted to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, despite the fact it has been leading national polls for months and came third by share of the popular vote in the 2024 general election, ahead of the Lib Dems. Starmer made the appointments despite his calls to abolish the House of Lords and comments suggesting he would not have a resignations honors list. “It’s very hard to justify… I think it’s easier to be clean about this and simply say, no, I wouldn’t do it,” said Starmer back in 2023. 🎯 IMPACT: Mayor Khan’s peerage is likely to frustrate much of the British public, and especially Londoners dissatisfied with his handling of crime in the British capital. The Mayor has also been roundly criticized for failing to improve the city’s cost of living. The appointments collectively reignite concerns over the size of the House of Lords, which now stands at 774 members. The appointments constitute one of the Prime Minister’s final acts in office as Labour Member of Parliament Andy Burnham is positioned to become Labour leader and Prime Minister by the end of the week. 📺 FLASHBACK: Back in 2025, Mayor Khan, who is of Pakistani heritage, denied the existence of predominantly Pakistani-heritage Muslim grooming gangs operating in London. Later the same year, Khan was accused of covering up the activity of such gangs. Also, later that same year, President Donald J. Trump said that Mayor Khan owed his office to mass migration, describing Khan as “a horrible mayor… an incompetent mayor… he’s a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor.” |
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