Keir Starmer is set to appoint Richard Walker, the executive chair of Iceland Foods and a former Conservative donor, to the House of Lords — marking one of the most striking political shifts in recent years for a senior UK business figure.
The Guardian understands that Walker will join a cohort of around 25 new Labour peers expected to be announced later this month, giving the supermarket executive a direct platform in parliament to champion policies that have become central to his public campaigning, including closer ties with the EU and a more optimistic economic narrative.
Walker’s elevation to the Lords completes a rapid political realignment. A little over three years ago, he was being lined up as a potential Conservative MP candidate and had donated nearly £10,000 to the party in the summer of 2020, during Boris Johnson’s premiership. He was added to the approved Conservative candidates’ list in 2022.
But by 2023, Walker publicly severed ties with the party, accusing the Conservatives of having “drifted badly out of touch with business and the economy, and with the everyday needs of the British people”. He criticised the government’s management of key issues such as retail crime, inflation and the post-Brexit trading environment.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
