A FORMER Holyrood presiding officer has been handed a peerage by Keir Starmer.
Ken Macintosh, who was presiding officer at Holyrood from 2016 to 2021, has been included in a list of 16 people nominated by the outgoing Prime Minister for a seat in the House of Lords. A further eight people have been nominated for peerages by opposition parties, and there are two crossbench appointments for a total of 26.
Starmer is set to be replaced in Number 10 by Andy Burnham next week after the Greater Manchester mayor won the Makerfield by-election to retake his seat in the House of Commons.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also been nominated, which would pave the way for him to become part of Burnham's Cabinet.
However, it is understood he is not seeking a ministerial role and has not yet decided whether he will stand again for the mayoralty, which he has held since 2016.
Starmer has already appointed more peers than any of the previous four prime ministers despite previous pleas by the Labour Party to look at reforming or abolishing the upper chamber.
He signalled last week that he could hand out resignation honours when he leaves Downing Street, despite pledging three years ago he would not do so when he eventually stood down.
Before winning the 2024 General Election, Starmer argued the House of Lords should be abolished, and said honours should be for “public service, not Tory cronies”.
Starmer has so far resisted calls to remove Peter Mandelson's peerage following revelations about his relationship with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Macintosh began his career as a TV producer with the BBC in 1986, working on a range of flagship news and current affairs programmes until he was elected to the first Scottish Parliament in 1999.
He held various frontbench roles for the Labour Party at Holyrood, including finance, education, and communities. As presiding officer, he established the Independent Commission on Parliamentary Reform. He is also a member of the Privy Council and a Deputy Lieutenant of Renfrewshire.
LibDem leader Ed Davey has made five nominations and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has made three.
Former Cabinet secretary Chris Wormald has been nominated for a crossbench peerage alongside Brian Leveson, a retired senior judge.
A full list of the new life peerages
Keir Starmer's nominations:
- Alison Garnham - chief executive, Child Poverty Action Group.
- Alison Lowe OBE - deputy mayor for policing and crime in West Yorkshire.
- Barbara Mills KC - chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales (2025), family law barrister and joint head of chambers at 4PB.
- Cathy Ashley OBE - chief executive of Family Rights Group and former chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
- Christina McAnea – former general secretary of Unison.
- June Sarpong OBE - broadcaster, charity campaigner and social equity advocate.
- The Rt Hon Ken Macintosh DL – former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament.
- Kitty Ussher - British economist, former MP for Burnley and former economic secretary to the Treasury.
- Marcus Davey CBE – former CEO and artistic director of the Roundhouse.
- Martin McTague OBE - national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses.
- Nick Stace OBE - chief global impact officer at Howden Group.
- Parvais Jabbar MBE - human rights expert, co-founder and co-executive director of The Death Penalty Project.
- Roberto Neri - CEO of The Ivors Academy and a director of UK Music.
- The Rt Hon Sir Sadiq Khan - mayor of London and former MP for Tooting.
- Saul Lehrfreund MBE - human rights expert, co-founder and co-executive director of The Death Penalty Project.
- Tim J Smith CBE – former chief executive of the Food Standards Agency
Ed Davey's nominations
- Dave McCobb – Liberal Democrat Director of Field Campaigns. Former Hull City Councillor of 22 years.
- Hannah Kitching – Chair of the Yorkshire Liberal Democrats and Town Mayor of Penistone. Former NHS physiotherapist and Barnsley councillor.
- Julia Aglionby – Executive Director of the Foundation for Common Land. Agricultural valuer and former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate.
- Mark Petterson – Director of Warwick Energy Limited. Pioneer of UK offshore wind and long-standing adviser to the Liberal Democrats.
- Dr Tim Leunig – Chief Economist at Nesta and Visiting Professor at LSE. Former senior civil servant and economic adviser.
Kemi Badenoch's nominations
- David Ross - Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. Co-Founder of Carphone Warehouse, Sponsor and Chair of David Ross Education Trust, Founder of the Nevill Holt Festival and former Chair of the National Portrait Gallery.
- General Sir Patrick Sanders KCB CBE DSO - Lately Chief of the General Staff, British Army.
- Professor Swaran Singh - Professor of Social and Community Psychiatry, University of Warwick; Consultant Psychiatrist, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust and former Equality and Human Rights Commissioner.
Crossbench peerages
- The Rt Hon Sir Brian Leveson - Investigatory Powers Commissioner. Former President of the Queen’s Bench Division and Lord Justice of Appeal. Former Chair of the Sentencing Council and Chair of the Leveson Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press.
- Sir Chris Wormald KCB - Former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.
