Theresa May given peerage and Therese Coffey gets damehood in surprise dissolution honours list

The former prime minister Theresa May has been given a peerage while the former environment secretary Therese Coffey has been handed a damehood in the dissolution honours list.

Ms May, the former MP for Maidenhead, was nominated for a peerage by Rishi Sunak as No 10 made the surprise decision to announce the list on Thursday evening, less than an hour before the election polls closed.

The former PM stood down at the general election after a career spanning 27 years in parliament. Announcing her decision to step back from politics, Ms May told the Maidenhead Advertiser she had taken the decision to “focus on causes close to her heart”, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

Meanwhile, Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, who admitted to placing three bets on the date of the general election, was given a knighthood.

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Mr Jack revealed that he had placed three bets on the date of the election – one of which was successful – as the row over election betting engulfed the Tory party campaign.

He made it clear that he had not breached any rules and was not being investigated by the Gambling Commission.

Sir Graham Brady, the former chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, was also given a peerage by Mr Sunak.

Sir Graham has overseen changes of leadership during the Conservatives’ tenure in government spanning David Cameron to Rishi Sunak since he became chair of the 1922 Committee in 2010.

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, former chief whip Julian Smith and former defence secretary Ben Wallace, have been nominated for knighthoods.

The prime minister’s chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith has been proposed for a peerage along with former transport secretary Chris Grayling, Sir Alok Sharma and Dame Eleanor Laing.

Craig Mackinlay, the former Conservative MP for Thanet South, who lost both hands and feet to sepsis but returned to parliament recently, will also take a seat in the Lords.

Among Sir Keir Starmer’s nominations for peerages are Dame Margaret Beckett, Harriet Harman, Margaret Hodge and Kevan Jones, who has played a prominent role in campaigning for justice for sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal. The Labour Leader’s nominations also include former parliamentary Labour Party chair John Cryer.

There are also peerages for former deputy speaker Dame Rosie Winterton and veteran ex-whip John Spellar.

The Liberal Democrats nominated Caroline Pidgeon for a peerage, while the Ulster Unionist Party rewarded Thomas Elliott, the former leader of the party.