Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has been awarded a peerage by Sir Keir Starmer on the Prime Minister’s final full day as Labour leader.
The appointment means Khan will join the House of Lords as a Labour peer, though his formal title has not yet been confirmed.
His seat in Parliament could allow an incoming Labour leader to appoint him to government, but Khan is understood to have no interest in a ministerial role.
He intends to remain focused on his responsibilities as Mayor of London.
A spokesperson for the Mayor said he was honoured to receive the peerage and remains committed to ensuring Londoners have the same opportunities he was given.
The spokesperson added that serving as Mayor of London is the privilege of his life and that he will devote his energy to building a fairer, safer, and greener city.
A government source described Khan as a transformative mayor who cut violent crime to record lows and improved air quality.
The source also credited him with delivering the Elizabeth Line and restarting council home construction in the capital.
The peerage list includes 25 other recipients, among them former cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald and retired judge Sir Brian Leveson.
Incoming Labour leader Andy Burnham is expected to take over as Prime Minister on Monday and has signalled plans to appoint metro mayors to the House of Lords.
The move is viewed as an initial step toward making the upper chamber more representative of communities across the United Kingdom.
In a 2024 book co-authored with Liverpool Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, Burnham criticised the current parliamentary structure as a national embarrassment.
He argued that an unelected Lords overly drawn from elite social classes undermines democratic scrutiny and called for reform of both parliamentary houses.
