"Keir Starmer is finalising a list of dozens of new peerages to strengthen his hand in the Lords, with his outgoing policy chief, Liz Lloyd, to be made a minister in the upper house after leaving No 10 in his major shake-up. The prime minister has drawn up a list of Labour allies to be elevated to the House of Lords to help drive through legislation such as the bill scrapping hereditary peers which has been obstructed by the Conservatives."
"Starmer's last peerages list in December created two dozen new Labour peers, including the short-lived former Downing Street chief of staff Sue Gray and former MPs including former shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire. But government insiders hope the latest list could be announced as soon as October, with the aim of rebalancing the Lords to prevent the opposition clogging up legislation including on renters' rights, employment rights and hereditaries as it goes through parliament."
"The Tories currently have 285 peers, compared with Labour's 209. Even once the 44 Tory hereditary peers are gone, they would still have about 30 more members of the Lords than the government, sources said, indicating No 10 could appoint enough new peers to balance the numbers. The departure of Lloyd, who was Tony Blair's deputy chief of staff, was among a slew of changes announced on Monday as Starmer attempted to wrest back control of economic policy from the Treasury by bolstering his team."
Keir Starmer is preparing to appoint dozens of new Labour peers to the House of Lords and plans to make Liz Lloyd a minister there after her departure from No 10. The appointments aim to rebalance the Lords and prevent the opposition from obstructing legislation including renters' rights, employment rights and the bill to scrap hereditary peers. The Conservatives currently outnumber Labour in the Lords even after removing hereditary peers, so Downing Street could appoint enough peers to close the gap. The reshuffle includes new economic roles: Darren Jones as chancellor's deputy for delivery and Minouche Shafik as chief economic adviser, while allies insist the changes do not undermine the chancellor.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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