Sir Keir Starmer could hand London mayor Sadiq Khan a seat in the House of Lords as part of a plan to bolster his precarious position if Labour crashes and burns in May’s local elections.
The Prime Minister is said to be considering a peerage for Sir Sadiq less than a year after he was knighted, in a bid to reign in a senior party figure who has been unafraid to voice his differences.
The London mayor, who has hinted he will run for another term in the capital in 2028, recently suggested the party should campaign at the next general election on a platform of rejoining the EU.
The PM has been scrambling for a ‘reset’ with Brussels, while Rachel Reeves has been pushing for closer ties, but have said there are ‘red lines’ they are not prepared to cross.
If confirmed, Sir Sadiq would be able to combine his role as a peer while sitting as mayor, with Tory Tees Valley mayor Lord Houchen doing so currently.
But questions would be raised over how effective a job he could do, with his role being vastly larger than that of Houchen in the North East.
It would also raise the ire of anti-Ulez campaigners furious at the tax on driving championed by the mayor.
The Financial Times, which first reported the peerage plan, said there had been discussions about giving Khan a Cabinet post, something denied by Downing Street.
A No10 source said the reports were ‘speculation’.
Susan Hall, the leader of the Conservatives in the London Assembly, questioned how Sir Sadiq could both fulfil his role as mayor and sit in the Lords.
‘I thought it was an early April Fool’s joke. It beggars belief,’ she told GB News.
‘One of the reasons Keir Starmer might want to do it is he knows Sadiq Khan wants to be prime minister. If he puts him in the Lords, he then couldn’t become prime minister.
‘Sadiq Khan has got a big enough job to try and do properly as it is, which he doesn’t do properly, he’s got a £24billion budget. He can’t possibly go and do a different job as well.’
Alex Wilson, the leader of Reform UK in the London Assembly, said: ‘Keir Starmer offering Sadiq Khan a peerage proves Labour have a culture of rewarding failure.
‘He’s abusing the honours system to bribe his biggest critics.’
Speaking to Italian newspaper La Repubblica earlier this month, Sir Sadiq insisted the government should rejoining both the customs union and the single market in this Parliament.
And he suggested that fighting the next election on a ticket of resuming full membership of the bloc would mean there is no need for another referendum.
‘I see on a daily basis the damage Brexit has done to not just London, but to Londoners, the damage economically, socially and culturally,’ Sir Sadiq said.
‘I’m quite clear in terms of what needs to happen, which is, we should join the European Union.’
Sir Sadiq pointed to the election of Donald Trump, growing global instability and the passage of time as reasons to revisit the issue, arguing that ‘the facts have changed’ and ‘the evidence has changed’.
‘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,’ he said.
The comments immediately sparked clashes between Labour MPs, underlining that the party is still deeply divided over Brexit.
Last week the Mail revealed Sebastian Coe is being urged to run for London mayor after polling suggested he could lead a Tory revival in the capital.
Private polling conducted for Tory backers found that the former Olympic champion is more popular in the capital than any current political party leader – and would beat Khan.
He would also beat former Tory home secretary Sir James Cleverly, who is eyeing up a possible run in 2028.
The Conservatives are anxious to reverse a dismal decade of results in the capital since Boris Johnson stepped down as mayor in 2016.
Sir Sadiq has won three consecutive terms in office despite growing criticism of his record on crime, housing and tax.
