
UK PM Keir Starmer Nominates Indian-Origin Krish Raval for Peerage
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has nominated Indian-origin professional Krish Raval for a life peerage in the House of Lords. Raval, the Founder-Director of Faith in Leadership, a University of Oxford-based organization promoting inter-faith relations, was one of 30 individuals chosen by Starmer for political peerages.
Raval, a London-based leader who chairs the Labour Party's diaspora group, Labour Indians, was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2018 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to leadership education and inter-faith cohesion. With this nomination, he is set to join the Labour benches in the Upper House of the UK Parliament.
Other notable Labour nominees include Sue Gray, Starmer’s former chief of staff, and Thangam Debbonaire, a former Labour shadow minister of Sri Lankan heritage.
The nominations, announced this week, await approval by King Charles III. The process involves scrutiny by the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC), followed by legal formalities, including the issuance of a writ of summons and a Letters Patent by the monarch.
The Labour Party has put forward 30 nominations to address the imbalance in the House of Lords, where the Conservative Party currently has the largest number of peers. Once approved, Labour will hold 217 seats, compared to 279 for the Conservatives and 80 for the Liberal Democrats.
Other nominees include Opposition Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch’s six picks, which feature former deputy prime minister Therese Coffey, and the Liberal Democrats’ inclusion of British Pakistani councillor Shaffaq Mohammed. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s nominations are expected to be announced later.
This move is seen as a strategic step by Starmer to strengthen Labour's influence in the Upper Chamber, which plays a vital role in the legislative process.
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