It’s true: Sir Simon Woolley appointed Life Cross Bench Peer

In our last meeting, whilst Theresa May was Prime Minister she did not disclose her decision to appoint me to the upper House as a Cross-bench Lord. But I should have read between the lines during our chat.

“The work you’ve done with the Race Disparity Unit has to continue. Together Simon, we’ve built a foundation that will help transform Government departments, and deliver better policies to tackle racism” she said.

No more was said on the issue, but a few days later Gavin Barwell, her Chief of Staff called me to say the PM has decided to put you in the House of Lords for two reasons: first, as an acknowledgement of 25 years work in tackling race inequality, but also to help you continue that work at the highest level”. In that moment you could have blown me down with a feather. I still haven’t got my head around being a Knight of Realm and now to be appointed a Peer takes a bit of getting used to.

In the end, I always default to: this is not about me in any egotistical way, far from it, but rather it’s about what I can do. Scratch that, what we can do!

One of my goals in this turbulent moment in British politics will be to keep our focus on tackling persistent race inequality, politically empower our communities, and continue to offer talented BME individuals pathways to the highest political/civic offices in the land.

Simon