Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, Arlene Foster and former Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames are among those set to enter the House of Lords. A total of 26 figures have been made members of the House of Lords as part of the latest honours list.
The peerages were conferred by the King on recommendation from the Prime Minister, further to advice from former prime minister Boris Johnson. Included in the list are Sir Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas, who was expelled from the Conservatives by Mr Johnson for rebelling on Brexit.
Dame Arlene, who was forced out as leader of the DUP last year and is a former Northern Ireland first minister, was also included in the list and will sit as a non-affiliated peer. Mr Watson was among those nominated by Sir Keir Starmer.
Others nominated by Mr Johnson include former minister Sir Hugo Swire, as well as ex-MP Angie Bray. Graham Evans, who lost his Commons seat in 2017 in Weaver Vale, will also enter the House of Lords, alongside businessman and National Gallery trustee Sir Michael Hintze.
Stewart Jackson, another former MP and a special adviser at the Department for Exiting the European Union, also gets a peerage. Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), will be made a peer after being nominated by Labour, alongside Ruth Smeeth, a former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North.
Peter Weir, a former education minister in Northern Ireland, will enter the Lords after being nominated by the DUP. Chairman of Network Rail Sir Peter Hendy has also been nominated as a crossbench peer.
Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of DMG Media which publishes the Daily Mail and Metro newspapers, was not on the list despite previously being tipped to receive the honour.
