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 enter the House of Lords while keeping his current role.
Downing Street described reports that Khan could become a peer after local elections in May as “speculation”, and a Labour source declined to comment. Khan's allies said any decision on a peerage was for No 10, but ruled out the possibility that he would be brought into the cabinet.
Khan, who was knighted last year, has been London mayor since 2016. A role closer to Starmer could be presented as making full use of Labour's talents, especially as Khan has at times been critical of the government, for example after the party's byelection loss to the Greens in Gorton and Denton.
Sources close to the mayor said he was focused on the last two years of his term and has not announced whether he will seek a fourth term. A peerage would not be incompatible with remaining mayor, as Ben Houchen was made a peer in 2023 while serving as Tees Valley mayor.
Another wave of peerages is expected soon, partly to reinstate about 15 hereditary peers as life members after their removal. Starmer has already created 96 new peers, 65 of them Labour, in an attempt to help legislation pass the upper house, which has 868 members.
