Allies of Sadiq Khan have dismissed reports that the London mayor could join Keir Starmer’s cabinet after being made a peer, although it remains possible he could join the House of Lords while keeping his current role. Downing Street described the speculation as unfounded, and a Labour source declined to comment.
Any decision on a peerage rests with No 10, Khan’s allies said, but they ruled out the possibility cited by the Financial Times that Khan could be brought in to strengthen Starmer’s cabinet after entering the Lords. Khan spent a decade as a London MP before stepping down in 2016 to become mayor, winning three consecutive elections with support from beyond Labour’s core vote.
A role for Khan working closer with Starmer could be presented as the prime minister making full use of Labour’s talents, especially given that Khan has at times criticised the government, such as after the Gorton and Denton byelection loss to the Greens. However, sources close to the mayor said he is committed to focusing on the last two years of his current term and has not yet announced whether he will seek a fourth term.
This would not necessarily be incompatible with a place in the Lords for Khan, who was knighted last year. Ben Houchen was made a peer in 2023 while serving his second term as Tees Valley mayor, and subsequently won a third term. Houchen attended 20% of Lords sittings in 2025 and spoke once in the chamber.
Another wave of new peerages is expected soon, partly under a plan to allow the Conservatives to reinstate about 15 hereditary peers as life members. As of the end of last year, Starmer had created 96 new peers, 65 of them Labour, in an attempt to help legislation pass the upper house. The Lords currently has 868 members, 842 of whom are active, making it the second largest legislative chamber globally after China’s National People’s Congress.
