Keir Starmer has appointed more than two dozen new peers as he seeks to boost Labour ’s numbers in the House of Lords.

Iceland boss Richard Walker, who abandoned the Tories for Labour, was named in a political peerage list, along with ex-No10 comms chief Matthew Doyle and Rachel Reeves ’s former chief of staff, Katie Martin.

Veteran Labour aide Carol Linforth is also on the list, as is Andy Roe, the chair of the national Building Safety Regulator.

Despite the new peerages, the Tories are still by far the largest party in the Lords. Mr Starmer has appointed 62 peerages since being elected to Government: 25 today, 30 last December and seven for ministerial appointments. This compares to 122 peers appointed by David Cameron over a two-year period.

A Labour source said: “⁠The Torie

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