Keir Starmer gave Sadiq Khan a peerage in a Uk Cabinet honours list that created 26 new peers just days before he stands down from No 10. The timing came as Sadiq Khan told the prime minister-in-waiting that he has no wish to be a minister in his government right now.
26 new peers
The full list included 26 people getting peerages, and Downing Street sources said the elevation was part of a regular honours list. Those same sources said the timing was unusual because peerages usually appear in spring or autumn, leaving the announcement squeezed into the final days before Starmer leaves No 10.
Starmer had signalled last week that he could hand out resignation honours when he leaves Downing Street. Three years ago, he pledged that he would not hand out resignation honours when he eventually stood down, making the decision to issue the latest list a break with that earlier position.
Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham
Sadiq Khan has not said whether he wants to seek a fourth term in 2028, and sources close to him said he was committed to focusing on the last two years of his current term. The London mayor’s peerage also sits alongside Andy Burnham’s call for an overhaul of the House of Lords, including his proposal for a senate of regions and nations with seats for the country’s metro mayors.
For now, Khan’s own position is narrow and direct: he has no wish to be a minister in Burnham’s government right now. That leaves the peerage as an immediate change in status, while the next political step for Khan remains a decision he has not yet announced.
