Marvin Rees and Thangam Debbonaire have been offered peerages and could soon be sitting in the House of Lords. Bristol’s former mayor and MP for Bristol West were nominated by Keir Starmer to receive peerages, in a list published on Friday, December 20.
Becoming lords means that the two former Labour politicians could be selected to serve in the government’s cabinet. Mr Rees stood down as mayor in May after eight years in charge of Bristol City Council, while Ms Debbonaire lost her seat in the general election in July.
She lost to Carla Denyer, who became the city’s first Green MP in the new seat of Bristol Central. Mr Rees tried to become an MP but failed to win over local party members, who instead chose Damien Egan, who then became the first MP for Bristol North East.
Writing on X, Ms Debbonaire said: “I'm honoured to be asked to join the House of Lords. I’m grateful to the Prime Minister for giving me this opportunity to serve the country and support the Labour government he leads to transform the UK.”
At the end of year, political parties nominate some people to join the House of Lords. Although peers are different from MPs, these politicians still get to vote on new laws and can serve in cabinet positions, like David Cameron, the former prime minister and foreign secretary.
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Mr Starmer previously promised to abolish the House of Lords altogether. Instead, Labour is taking a gradual approach, and will soon remove 92 hereditary peers. These politicians inherited their right to sit in the Lords from their parents.
The House of Lords is one of two parts of the UK Parliament, the other being the House of Commons, where MPs sit. Also nominated for a peerage are Sue Gray, Toby Young and Luciana Berger.
