Nigel Farage blasts Keir Starmer over 16 House of Lords appointments as Reform snubbed by PM

Reform UK lost its only member of the upper chamber after Malcolm Offord resigned to stand in the 2026 Scottish Parliament Election

Nigel Farage has blasted Sir Keir Starmer for appointing 16 people as Labour members of the House of Lords after Reform UK was not invited to put forward peers to sit in the upper chamber.

In one of Sir Keir's final acts as Prime Minister, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, former union chief Christina McAnea and veteran television presenter June Sarpong were nominated to take the Labour whip in the House of Lords.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch was also invited to put forward Conservative donor David Ross, ex-Army chief General Sir Patrick Sanders, and Professor Swaran Singh.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey revealed he was "absolutely delighted" to put five names forward.

Despite topping the polls for over a year, Reform UK is without any representation in the upper chamber after ex-Tory peer Malcolm Offord resigned to stand in the 2026 Scottish Parliament Election.

Following today's appointments, Mr Farage said: "The House of Lords appointments are the uniparty writ large.

"Once again, there is nothing for Reform and we get an even more unrepresentative upper house."

There are currently 246 Tory peers in the House of Lords, with 216 sitting members taking the Labour whip.

The Liberal Democrats have 74 sitting members, only marginally more than the 71 MPs elected at the 2024 General Election.

However, Reform UK is also outnumbered in the House of Lords by smaller parties, including two from both the Green Party and Plaid Cymru.

The Democratic Unionist Party holds six seats in the upper chamber, with a further three taking the Ulster Unionist Party whip.

But Mr Farage's request to appoint members to the House of Lords has been overlooked for some time, with Ukip also struggling to secure more than a handful of peers.

Ukip managed to secure just a handful of peers while Mr Farage was a leading member of the party, primarily through defections from the Conservative Party.

However, Reform UK is now looking at ways to circumvent the upper chamber if Mr Farage wins the keys to No10 at the next general election.

Reform UK, which would need to appoint hundreds of peers to secure a majority in the House of Lords, is also considering beefing up the power of ministers and backbench Commons committees.