'The more voices from Yorkshire, the better': Food industry expert Tim Smith gets peerage from Keir Starmer
A Yorkshire food industry expert says he is “really honoured” to be among those handed a peerage as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to leave office.
Sheffield-born Tim Smith, who still lives in the city and is currently chair of Yorkshire food production giant Cranswick, has been selected for a peerage alongside 25 other people including London mayor Sadiq Khan, former cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald and Sir Brian Leveson, a retired senior judge.
Mr Smith is part of Sir Keir's selections, alongside West Yorkshire deputy mayor for policing and crime Alison Lowe has also been nominated. Also chosen by Sir Ed Davey are former Hull city councillor Dave McCobb, who is Liberal Democrat director of field operations. Hannah Kitching, chair of the Yorkshire Liberal Democrats and town mayor of Penistone, has also been selected.
Mr Smith has previously worked in senior roles for the likes of Tesco and Arla and was chief executive of the Food Standards Agency, where he was responsible for introducing food hygiene scores which adorn restaurants and pubs.
Last week, he urged incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham to ‘back British food’ by helping new chicken farms get the green light amidst mounting frustrations about rejected applications.
Mr Smith said he was delighted to be nominated for a position in the House of Lords and intends to use the opportunity to represent both the food industry and Yorkshire.
"For a long time, a lot of us in the food industry have been saying we need more people in Parliament with genuine experience of the sector,” he said.
"I’m obviously really honoured that I’ve been given that opportunity and I am looking forward to drawing on the experience over the coming months and years.
"As someone who has lived all his life in Yorkshire, I also think it is positive for the county that there are a number of Yorkshiremen and women receiving peerages this week.
"We may not all represent the same party but I am sure we all agree the more voices there are from Yorkshire, the better.”
Other nominations from the outgoing Labour leader Sir Keir include broadcaster and former Loose Women panelist June Sarpong and former Unison general secretary Christina McAnea.
Sir Sadiq, a long-time ally of Sir Keir, has long been tipped for a peerage and will at least initially combine his parliamentary role with his regional one.
There have been long-standing concerns about the size of the House and calls to reduce its membership, which excluding the latest list stands at 772, compared with MPs who are capped at 650.
Figures show the Conservatives remain the largest bloc in the Lords, with 246 peers compared with Labour’s 216, before accounting for the incoming peers.
There are 155 crossbench peers and 74 from the Liberal Democrats.
In the latest list, the Tories nominated businessman and Conservative donor David Ross, the former head of the Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, and Professor Swaran Singh.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We are delighted that David, Sir Patrick and Professor Singh will be joining the Conservative team in the House of Lords. They each bring immense experience from the worlds of business, defence and healthcare.”