Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox
Get our free View from Westminster email
Former prime minister Theresa May has been given a peerage while Therese Coffey has been handed a damehood in the dissolution honours list.
Ms May, the former MP for Maidenhead, was nominated for a peerage by Rishi Sunak as No10 made the surprise decision to announce the list on Thursday evening, less than an hour before the election polls closed.
The former PM is standing down at the general election after a 27 years in parliament. Announcing her decision to step back from politics, Ms May told the Maidenhead Advertiser she had taken the decision to “focus on causes close to her heart including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking”.
Meanwhile Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, who admitted to placing three bets on the date of the general election, was given a Knighthood of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
You can follow our liveblog here where we will update you on the election results seat by seat as they come in
Mr Jack said he had placed three bets on the election date – one of which was successful –as the row over election betting engulfed the Tory election campaign.
He made clear that he had not breached any rules and was not being investigated by the Gambling Commission.
The former chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady was also given a peerage by Mr Sunak.
Sir Graham has overseen changes of leadership during the Conservatives’ tenure in government spanning David Cameron to Rishi Sunak since he became chairman of the 1922 Committee in 2010.
The group of Conservative backbench MPs organise ballots on potential changes and disgruntled MPs who wish to see a different leader selected can send letters to Sir Graham to encourage the incumbent to step down.
Sometimes dubbed “The 22”, the committee oversees votes of no confidence, such as those taken against former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Theresa May.
Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, former chief whip Julian Smith and former defence secretary Ben Wallace have been nominated for knighthoods.
The Prime Minister’s chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith has been proposed for a peerage along with former transport secretary Chris Grayling, Sir Alok Sharma and Dame Eleanor Laing.
Ex-MP Craig Mackinlay, whose battle with sepsis recently cost him his hands and feet will also take a seat in the Lords.
Among Sir Keir Starmer’s nominations for peerages are Dame Margaret Beckett, Harriet Harman, Margaret Hodge and Kevan Jones.
The Labour Leader’s nominations 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.
The Liberal Democrat Party nominated Caroline Pidgeon for a peerage, while the Ulster Unionist Party rewarded Thomas Elliott, the former leader of the party.
