Hull councillor and Grimsby entrepreneur appointed to House of Lords

26 people have been announced as new appointments to Parliament’s unelected second chamber.

Among them are Carphone Warehouse co-founder and Grimbarian David Ross, and former Hull Liberal Democrat councillor Dave McCobb.

Mr Ross, who the peerage announcement highlights as an “entrepreneur and philanthropist”, will take his place in the House of Lords as a Conservative peer.

Unsurprisingly, Mr McCobb will be a Liberal Democrat peer. Hull City Council leader Coun Mike Ross (Liberal Democrat – Beverley and Newland) has welcomed his former councillor colleague’s appointment to the House of Lords.

“This is great news for Hull. Dave will do a brilliant job, and I know he will bang the drum for the city in Parliament.” Coun Ross has also acknowledged in a tweet the party’s ambitions to end the unelected nature of the House of Lords. “Of course, the party wants to see an elected chamber, but while this is the one we have, it is important to have excellent members in it.”

Hull councillor who stepped down in May to now be elevated to peerage

Mr McCobb served Hull as a city councillor for 24 years before stepping down at the May 2026 local elections. He represented the Beverley Ward from 2002 until 2018 and then the Beverley and Newland ward until this year. First elected in 2002, he was successfully re-elected six times by residents.

“I am humbled to be given this fantastic opportunity to put Hull and East Yorkshire’s case directly to the Government,” he said.

“I’ll carry on working alongside the Hull Lib Dem team running the council to champion the city from Parliament and make sure ministers give residents the fair deal they deserve. Hull and East Yorkshire is a special part of the world.

“I was born here, brought up here and now live here with my family. This is a great part of the world, and it deserves so much more investment and recognition than it gets.”

His time as a councillor has seen him help save a local Post Office, as well as helping establish and then support several community facilities, and securing the creation of two new parks in the HU6 community. Mr McCobb was also instrumental in setting up the successful Crime Prevention Fund, which has since funded over 100 community safety projects across the city.

He also made sure residents had their say through the major transport survey when the Lib Dems took power in the Guildhall in 2022. He has also played his part in Lib Dem fortunes nationally.

He has been the party’s director of field campaigns since March 2020 and held other electoral campaign roles in the party since 2011. Born in Beverley, brought up in Haltemprice, and having lived in Hull for 25 years, Dave McCobb will become Hull’s first Liberal Democrat parliamentarian.

David Ross appointed a life peer

Mr Ross will take his place among Conservative ranks in the House of Lords, having long been a backer of the party. He was born in Grimsby in July 1965.

He is the grandson of Carl Ross, who created the commercial fishing firm that became known as Ross Group and was based in Grimsby, and took over Cosalt. David Ross was the co-founder of Carphone Warehouse.

But his activities in public life have been far from limited to business and support for the Conservative Party, with considerable interests in the educational and cultural sectors.

This includes currently chairing the Greater Grimsby Board, which has spearheaded the bid for Grimsby to be the first-ever UK Town of Culture. Grimsby has made it to a shortlist of 15 towns, with Mr Ross having stated on this that it was “testament to the determination, hard work and passion of the town’s communities, businesses and organisations. We now move to the next stage with pride and ambition.”

Mr Ross created the David Ross Foundation, aimed at helping young people via educational opportunities, and is the chair of the David Ross Education Trust. This runs 36 academies, including Endike Primary Academy in Hull and in Grimsby, Edward Heneage Primary Academy, and at secondary level, Havelock Academy and Humberston Academy.

He has been a chair of the board of trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, and the Royal Opera House. Sporting involvements have included as a non-executive director of the British Olympic Association, and financially backing a £40m new sports centre at the University of Nottingham. This opened in 2016 and was named after him as the David Ross Sports Village.

His political association with the Conservative Party has included substantial donations to it over the years, well over £1m in total. He was a supporter of Boris Johnson’s bid to be the party’s leader, donating £10,000 at the time, and he made a similar donation to Robert Jenrick MP when he was running to be party leader in 2024.