Sir Keir Starmer's first peerages announced

 Mr Richard Simon Hermer KC (born Sept, 1968), has been appointed Attorney General. He is a barrister with an impressive legal career. He has been involved in many high-profile cases heard by the English Courts over the past two decades. As a renowned practitioner in public law, he handles significant human rights and civil liberties cases in the UK. On his appointed as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland, he will receive a life peerage, yet to be gazetted. His expertise spans both domestic and international spheres, making him a key figure in legal matters1.

Sir Patrick John Thompson Vallance, KCB (born 17 March, 1960), has been appointed Minister of State (Minister for Science) in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The new life peer (born 17 March 1960[2]) is a physician, scientist, and clinical pharmacologist. He served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of the United Kingdom from 2018 to 2023. On stepping down, he became chair of the Natural History Museum in London.

The Rt Hon Jacqui Smith (Jacqueline Jill Smith, born 3 November 1962) is a British broadcaster, political commentator and Labour Party politician, has been appointed a Minister of State in the Department for Education. She served as Labour MP for Redditch from 1997 to 2010. She served as Home Secretary under Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2009 and was the first woman to hold the position.

The Rt Hon Sir David George Hanson (born 5 July 1957, an MP from 1992 to 2019 and a Minister of State from 2005 to 2010) is now a Minister of State in the Home Office.

Mr James Timpson OBE (born 17 September, 1971), has been appointed Minister of State (Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation) in the Ministry of Justice. A member of the Timpson shoe family, he is known for advocating the employment of former prisoners, he was the Chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFFRR) until 2016, and became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust that same year. He also founded the Employment Advisory Board network across the prison estate, which links prisons with employers to improve the employment opportunities for ex-offenders upon release.

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