Sadiq Khan has been sworn in as a member of the House of Lords, combining the mayoralty of London with a seat in Parliament’s upper chamber. The official Parliament record lists him as Lord Khan of Tooting, in full The Rt Hon. the Lord Khan of Tooting, and dates his Lords membership from 20 August 2026. He sits as a Labour peer. His title takes its name from Tooting, the south London area he grew up in and later represented in the Commons.
As recorded in the account held in this newsroom’s earlier draft, Sir Sadiq was supported at his introduction by former Labour leader Lord Kinnock and human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws. The same account records that he took the oath alongside fellow new Labour peer Lord Roberto Neri, watched by London Labour MPs including Dawn Butler, Tulip Siddiq and Rupa Huq and members of his family, before shaking hands with the Lord Speaker, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, to applause. No separate Lords Hansard entry for the introduction could be located in Parliament’s published records at the time of writing, so those details are given here as recorded in that earlier account, not as Hansard-verified fact.
What the introduction ceremony involves
An introduction is the short formal ceremony a new peer must go through before taking their seat. Parliament’s introduction glossary puts it at the start of business and lasting only a few minutes. Under the Lords Companion to the Standing Orders, a newly created life peer is brought in by two existing members, called supporters, who have already taken the oath. The new peer must have received a writ of summons, then takes the oath of allegiance, or makes a solemn affirmation, and signs the Test Roll, which includes an undertaking to follow the House’s Code of Conduct. The ceremony ends with a handshake with the Lord Speaker on the Woolsack. Only after taking the oath can a member sit, speak and vote.
Mayor and peer at the same time
Khan now holds two roles at once: Mayor of London, first elected in 2016, and a voting Lords member. Parliament’s biography also records his earlier Commons career, including election as MP for Tooting in 2005 and service as Minister of State for Transport from June 2009 to May 2010. On the mayoral timetable, London Elects, the capital’s official elections body, lists the next London elections for Thursday 4 May 2028, when his current mayoral term runs until. That states the electoral calendar, not his intentions. Political speculation that he may not seek a fourth term remains just that — speculation, with no announcement made — and whether holding both jobs is desirable is a matter for debate, not a question the official record answers. At City Hall he continues his mayoral work, including recently opening a £6m grassroots fund for survivors of violence against women and girls.
Why it is unusual
No official Parliament source gives this appointment a “first ever” label, so the position is stated plainly here. On the official records, the same person is at once the directly elected Mayor of London and a current Lords member entitled to sit and vote after taking the oath. Divided time and accountability are the practical points that overlap raises, but they are matters for scrutiny and comment rather than facts the records themselves establish.
What happens next is procedural. Having taken the oath, Lord Khan can sit on the Labour benches, speak in debates, vote in divisions and table questions and amendments like other life peers, while remaining Mayor unless he announces otherwise. The official sources for this report are the Parliament profile for Lord Khan of Tooting and the Lords Companion chapter on membership. Earlier claims that could not be checked against those sources, including when the peerage was decided and past remarks on Lords abolition, have been left out.
