UK

Former prime minister Theresa May given peerage

Former prime minister Theresa May given peerage

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has handed peerages to former prime minister Theresa May and the former chairman of the influential Conservative backbench 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady.

Mr Sunak also rewarded his right-hand man Liam Booth-Smith with a peerage in a dissolution honours list announced less than an hour before polls closed in the general election.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, ex-chief whip Julian Smith, former defence secretary Ben Wallace and Scottish secretary Alister Jack have been given knighthoods, while former Cabinet minister Therese Coffey was made a dame.

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Image:
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden. Pic: PA

Former deputy Commons speaker Dame Eleanor Laing, ex-cabinet minister Chris Grayling and former MP Craig Mackinlay, whose battle with sepsis recently cost him his hands and feet, have also been given peerages.

Former COP26 president and cabinet minister Sir Alok Sharma has also been made a peer.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s nominations include Labour veterans Dame Margaret Beckett, Harriet Harman and Dame Margaret Hodge, as well as former Parliamentary Labour Party chair John Cryer.

Former minister Kevan Jones, who has played a prominent role in campaigning for justice for sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal, former deputy speaker Dame Rosie Winterton and veteran ex-whip John Spellar will also take seats in the House of Lords.