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Tom Watson and Arlene Foster nominated for peerages

BBC Tom WatsonBBC
Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labour Party, is due to enter the House of Lords

Tom Watson and Dame Arlene Foster are among 26 new peers set to enter the House of Lords.

Honours for the former deputy leader of the Labour Party and former Northern Ireland first minister were conferred by the King on Friday.

They were recommended by Prime Minister Liz Truss after being suggested by her predecessor Boris Johnson.

The list also includes Sir Winston Churchill's grandson, Sir Nicholas Soames.

Sir Nicholas, a former MP, was briefly expelled from the parliamentary Conservative Party by Mr Johnson for rebelling over Brexit.

New members are appointed to the House of Lords, which scrutinises bills that have been approved by the House of Commons, by the monarch after being proposed by the prime minister.

An outgoing prime minister has the right to draw up a dissolution or resignation honours list on leaving office, while considering nominations from other political parties.

Since 2000, peers nominated by political parties have been vetted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Dame Arlene, who will sit as a non-affiliated member, stepped down as DUP leader last year after a revolt by party representatives.

Others nominated by Mr Johnson include former minister Sir Hugo Swire, as well as ex-MP Angie Bray.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer included Mr Watson among his nominations.

PA Media Arlene FosterPA Media
Former Northern Ireland First Minister Dame Arlene Foster has been nominated for a peerage

Businessman and National Gallery trustee Sir Michael Hintze is also on the list, alongside former Tory MP Graham Evans, who lost his Commons seat in Weaver Vale in 2017.

Stewart Jackson, another ex-Tory MP and former special adviser to the Brexit secretary, also gets a peerage.

Peter Weir, a former Stormont education minister, will join the House of Lords after being nominated by the DUP.

Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), will be made a peer after being nominated by Labour, alongside Ruth Smeeth, a former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North.

Chairman of Network Rail Sir Peter Hendy has also been nominated as a crossbench peer.

However, Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of DMG Media which publishes the Daily Mail and Metro newspapers, was not on the list despite previously being tipped to receive the honour.

Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry and former culture secretary John Whittingdale were awarded knighthoods.

James Duddridge, an international trade minister and former parliamentary private secretary to Boris Johnson, received the honour of the Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George for "political and public service".