What does Sadiq Khan’s peerage mean for his future as London Mayor?The Mayor of London is being sworn into the House of Lords on Tuesday after being handed a peerage in Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation honours
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Rachael Burford, Chief Political Correspondent @RachaelBurford1 minute ago
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Sir Sadiq Khan has been handed a peerage despite previously calling for the abolition of the House of Lords.
The Mayor of London was among 26 new lords announced in Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation honours list as he left office in July.
He is being sworn into the House of Lords on Tuesday afternoon.
There is no rule preventing Lord Khan from sitting in the House of Lords and remaining in the Mayor of London job he has held for a decade.
Ben Houchen, who has been the Tory mayor of Tees Valley since 2017, has sat in the second chamber for three years.
Conservative London Assembly member Shaun Bailey, who ran as mayor in 2021, is also a peer.
In a fiery City Hall exchange with Lord Bailey in 2022, Lord Khan described it as “proof, if it was ever needed, that we should abolish the House of Lords”.
Accepting a peerage now has opened him up to criticism and accusations of hipocrisy, after his previous calls for the House of Lords to be abolished.
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan with his wife Saadiya Ahmad in the royal box at WimbledonPA
Will Sadiq Khan run as London Mayor again?
Lord Khan’s team has indicted that he will stay on as mayor until at least his third term ends in 2028.
But he has made no firm commitment yet on whether he will stand again, telling the Standard in May: “There are one or two dream jobs I would give up this job to do but let’s wait and see if they contact me.”
Ahead of being sworn in at the Lords on Tuesday, he said he will to continue working “tirelessly” in the interests of Londoners.
Lord Khan has previously described his current job as “the best job, not just in politics but in the world”.
However, it has come with some personal costs.
Threats to his safety mean that since 2017 he has received round-the-clock police protection, described as on a par with that given to the King and the Prime Minister.
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This is unprecedented for a municipal official for London’s first Muslim mayor.
Rumours are also already swirling about potential successors.
Dawn Butler, the Labour MP for Brent East and a friend and ally of Lord Khan’s, has previously denied reports she was preparing a mayoral campaign.
Former Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy is also said to be considering a bid to be London mayor, should Lord Khan not run for a fourth term.
Polls suggest Lord Khan would be favourite to win a fourth term if he does stand again.
A Savanta UK survey for the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London, in July put the Labour candidate on 33%, the Tories 18%, Reform UK 18%, Green Party 17%, Liberal Democrats nine per cent, and other candidates six per cent.
Could he swap City Hall for Andy Burnham’s cabinet?
Sir Sadiq Khan is understood to have told Mr Burnham he does not want a ministerial postPA Archive
As a Lord, Sir Sadiq could be offered a place in Andy Burnham’s cabinet.
The prime minister has vowed to deliver “the biggest rebalancing of power the country has ever seen” and shift more authority from Westminster to regional mayors.
It is understood that Lord Khan has told Mr Burnham that he has no wish to be a minister.
But his elevation to the House of Lords does give him a permanent parliamentary platform when he eventually leaves City Hall, allowing him to remain active in politics without returning to the Commons.
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