Former prime minister Theresa May set for House of Lords in Rishi Sunak's election honours

Kirstie McCrum

4 July 2024 at 4:35 pm·1-min read

Former prime minister Theresa May has been given a peerage in the dissolution honours list released by Rishi Sunak. The honours, which came out in the hour before polls closed in the General Election, also featured Mr Sunak's right-hand man Liam Booth-Smith, who was given a peerage.

Lord Booth-Smith had been Mr Sunak’s chief of staff in Downing Street. Ex-Cabinet minister Chris Grayling, former chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady and Mrs May will also take seats in the House of Lords.

Former deputy speaker Dame Eleanor Laing and ex-MP Craig Mackinlay, who has battled sepsis which cost him his hands and feet, have also been given peerages. Former Cop26 president and Cabinet minister Sir Alok Sharma has also been made a peer.

Labour veterans Dame Margaret Beckett, Harriet Harman and Dame Margaret Hodge will also take seats in the House of Lords. Sir Keir Starmer’s nominations in the dissolution honours include former Parliamentary Labour party chairman John Cryer.

There are also peerages for former minister Kevan Jones, who has played a prominent role in campaigning for justice for sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal, former deputy speaker Dame Rosie Winterton and veteran ex-whip John Spellar.

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden has been knighted, while former deputy prime minister Therese Coffey has been made a dame. The two Conservatives have been given top honours alongside three other party colleagues, with ex-defence secretary Ben Wallace and former chief whip Julian Smith both made knight commanders of the Order of the Bath, while former Scottish secretary Alister Jack has been made a knight of the Order of the British Empire.

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