Downing Street has not ruled out offering Sir Sadiq Khan a peerage, simply labelling such reporting “speculation”.
It was reported overnight by the Financial Times that Sir Keir Starmer could make the London mayor a lord after the local elections in May in order to pacify one of his most high-profile critics and prevent any potential bid to remove him from gaining momentum.
Allies of Khan also failed to rule out him accepting a peerage, saying: “Any question about the make up of the House of Lords is a matter for the government.”
They added that the mayor is “completely focussed on the job of delivering for Londoners”.
We asked government minister Josh MacAllister about the report this morning, and he replied: “I don’t know whether he’s planning on making Sadiq Khan a peer.”
But he went on to say that “it is incredibly helpful” for the government to have people in the Lords who have “real experience in local government and now in mayoral positions” to help pass legislation.
“So the principle of it is certainly not a bad idea,” he added.