Keir Starmer is reportedly considering offering London mayor Sadiq Khan a peerage in a bid to ease tensions within the Labour Party and strengthen his own position.
According to sources cited by the Financial Times, the British prime minister may grant Sadiq a seat in the House of Lords after the upcoming May local elections. The move is seen as an attempt to manage internal divisions as Labour faces the prospect of difficult election results that could weaken Starmer’s leadership.
The reports also suggest that Starmer is thinking of offering Sadiq a Cabinet role for a take-up in Downing Street.
One source said that giving the London mayor a peerage, just a year after he received a knighthood, could help the prime minister “shore up his position with patronage” as talk of a possible leadership challenge grows.
However, Downing Street sources have dismissed the claims, describing them as “speculation”.
The reported move comes after a series of public disagreements between the two senior Labour figures. Sadiq recently broke with party leadership by calling for the UK to rejoin the European Union (EU).
Speaking to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Sadiq said he is “quite clear in terms of what needs to happen, which is, we should join the European Union.”
He added: “We should, as a Labour Party, fight the next general election with a clear manifesto commitment, a vote for Labour means we would rejoin the European Union. I think it’s inevitable.”
His remarks put him at odds with Starmer, who has repeatedly ruled out reversing Brexit.
Sadiq has also criticised Labour’s political strategy following the party’s poor showing in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Writing in the Guardian, he said: “A political strategy of taking liberal, progressive voters for granted is clearly flawed.”
He warned that “the threat to the Labour party is now existential in parts of our country” and cautioned that without change, Labour risks losing key strongholds.
