The president of the Iceland supermarket chain will be nominated for a Labor peerage, party sources have confirmed.
They said Richard Walker was “a committed advocate for families facing the cost of living” and “will be a strong voice in Parliament”.
The 45-year-old left the Conservative Party in 2023 and was later seen at the launch of Labour’s manifesto for the 2024 general election.
He took over the frozen food retailer from his father, who founded the chain, in 2023.
Walker was among a long list of Conservative candidates to be MP, having been selected to be a member of the then Conservative government’s business council in 2022.
At that time he said he felt “honored” by the position.
However, 18 months later, he said he could no longer support the party, telling the BBC at the time that it was “out of touch” and criticizing it for its handling of the economy and climate change.
Walker later threw his support behind the Labor Party, writing in The Guardian that now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “has exactly what it takes to be a great leader”.
In February this year, he gave the new government a score of “six out of 10” in comments to the Financial Times, disagreeing with its increase in employers’ national insurance contributions but praising its attempts to improve relations with the EU.
Despite having a majority in the House of Commons, Labor is currently outnumbered in the Lords, with 210 peers to the Conservatives’ 282.
Walker was awarded an OBE in the 2022 Birthday Honors for services to business and the environment.
