Three new Liberal Democrat appointments to the House of Lords have been announced today: former MP and Children’s Minister Sarah Teather, the party’s Chief Executive Mike Dixon and Ed Davey’s Chief of Staff Rhiannon Leaman. Two Liberal Democrat hereditary peers, Dominic Addington and John Russell, have also been granted life peerages so they can continue their important contributions to Parliament after the Hereditary Peers Bill passes.
This follows the appointments of Caroline Pidgeon, Shaffaq Mohammed and Mark Pack to the Lords in 2024.
"I am delighted that Sarah, Mike and Rhiannon will be bringing their invaluable expertise and experience to the Liberal Democrat group in the House of Lords.
"Sarah has a proud record of delivering extra funding for millions of children from deprived backgrounds, while Rhiannon and Mike were both central to our party’s incredible General Election result that saw a record 72 Liberal Democrat MPs elected to serve their communities.
“All three are passionate campaigners and dedicated public servants who will continue fighting hard to deliver the change our country desperately needs, including reform of the House of Lords.”
Ed Davey - Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Sarah Teather is a former Liberal Democrat MP and government minister who went on to become a charity leader and NHS board member after leaving Parliament in 2015. In 2003, Sarah won a stunning victory in the Brent East by-election to gain the seat from Labour with a 29% swing. Sarah held Brent East at the 2005 General Election until the seat was abolished following boundary changes. She then won the newly created Brent Central seat at the 2010 General Election.
From May 2010 to September 2012, Sarah served as Minister of State for Children and Families. At the Liberal Democrats’ Autumn Conference in 2011, she announced the budget for the Pupil Premium was to be doubled, targeting schools with pupils from the most deprived backgrounds.
Throughout her time in Parliament, Sarah gained a reputation as a formidable campaigner on social justice issues affecting her constituents, such as access to housing, revenge evictions and child poverty. She ran a long campaign to get a constituent freed from Guantanamo Bay, arguing that detainees should face a just trial in Britain if there was evidence of guilt.
After deciding to stand down as an MP in 2015, Sarah became the UK Country Director for the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). JRS works in more than 50 countries providing support, humanitarian relief and educational programmes. The organisation also works to promote integration and mutual understanding between refugees and host communities – a challenge which has taken on greater significance at a time of polarisation.
Sarah serves on the boards of Barts Health NHS Trust and Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (a community and mental health trust). She is just completing an interim role as Chief Executive of a national children’s charity that helps young people, families and schools to tackle bullying.
As a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, Sarah hopes to create space for people excluded from decision-making to get their voices heard. She is passionate about encouraging stronger community relationships, dialogue and mutual understanding in an increasingly divided world.
Mike Dixon is the Liberal Democrats' Chief Executive, and was a key figure in the party’s historic success at the 2024 General Election.
Tim Farron MP’s Review of the General Election said that Mike was part of the “small, tightly-bound team” which “came up time and again as the single biggest contributor to the Liberal Democrats’ success”.
Mike has been the party’s Chief Executive since 2019. He led the party’s operational changes following the 2019 General Election Review, implementing the review’s recommendations and getting the party election-winning fit.
Mike’s leadership was vital in the party’s four pivotal by-election victories in the last parliament. He backed our excellent campaigns team from the start and he led from the front, often taking leave in order to knock on doors and deliver leaflets in Buckinghamshire, Shropshire, Devon and Somerset.
Prior to joining the team at Liberal Democrat HQ, Mike worked in senior roles in a number of charities. From 2017 to 2019, he was the Chief Executive of Addaction, a charity working with young people, adults and families in overcoming the problems associated with drug and alcohol misuse. Previously he was Assistant Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, where he worked with more than 20,000 volunteers to help millions of people solve problems around housing, welfare and employment issues; and led campaigns against predatory payday lending. Prior to that he was a Director at Victim Support, where he set up the first national support service for families affected by homicide.
As a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, Mike intends to focus on how Britain makes the best use of technology to overcome some of the societal issues he has previously championed in the third sector.
Mike will be continuing as the party’s Chief Executive.
Rhiannon Leaman has been the strategic driving force that has made Ed Davey the most popular party leader in the country and the most successful Liberal Democrat Leader in history.
As the Leader’s Chief of Staff since 2019, Rhiannon has carved out a distinctive position for the party and Ed – sharing his personal story as a carer with warmth and humour to grab attention and get a hearing to champion liberal values and the issues at the forefront of voters’ minds.
Rhiannon helped Ed to explain the challenging story of his life caring for his mum, his Nanna and his son – realising a strong connection between health and care policies and Ed’s own story. Recent polling shows that Ed is now the most popular political party leader in the UK, and is the most trusted leader when it comes to the NHS.
Rhiannon was a member of the “small, tightly-bound team” identified by Tim Farron as crucial to leading the party’s success at the last General Election. It was Rhiannon who conceived the blue wall image for the Chesham and Amersham by-election victory in 2021. That started a series of attention-grabbing campaigns for Ed, the vast majority conceptualised by Rhiannon.
Prior to becoming Chief of Staff, Rhiannon was the party’s Head of National Campaigns, co-ordinating the party’s campaigning for a better UK-EU relationship.
From 2015 to 2017, she worked in Save the Children’s Humanitarian team, campaigning to make a difference for children across the world. Previously, she worked for Ramblers, the UK’s walking charity, championing access to the countryside for all.
As a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, Rhiannon plans to campaign for urgent action to address violence against women and girls in the UK and around the world.
Dominic Addington has been a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords since 1986. Dominic is reported to be the most active peer in the entire House of Lords, attending 759 times between April 2015 and August 2021, and has spoken more than a thousand times since 2006.
Dominic is the Liberal Democrat disabilities spokesperson in the House of Lords and a passionate campaigner on special educational needs and disabilities, working assiduously to improve support for and enhance understanding of SEND. He is the Honorary President of the British Dyslexia Association and Chairman of Microlink PC, a company which produces assistive technology to help people overcome barriers to working and learning.
Dominic has spoken with passion about being dyslexic, bringing his experience to debates in the House of Lords. In a 2023 debate he spoke about the impact of assistive technology:
“my life was transformed about 25 years ago when I got working assistive technology. I am a severe dyslexic; the way I communicated a written message was to dictate it. Suddenly, when I got assistive technology, I could do it myself, so if I sound a little messianic on this it is because I am talking from my own experience.”
Dominic is captain of the Commons and Lords rugby team, and has played in several Parliamentary World Cup competitions.
Dominic and the Liberal Democrats have proudly championed reform of the House of Lords, supporting the Hereditary Peers Bill which will remove the right of the remaining hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. Dominic’s new life peerage will allow him to continue his outstanding record of public service.
John Russell is the Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change.
John became a member of the House of Lords in 2023 and has dedicated himself fully to his parliamentary work, regularly speaking and voting in the House and serving on the Environment and Climate Change select committee.
John has built relationships across political divides, and successfully secured changes to the Great British Energy Bill to ensure certain energy projects benefit local communities.
John was previously a professional photographer, served as a Liberal Democrat Councillor for Forest Hill in Lewisham from 2006 to 2010 and was a candidate for the London Assembly in 2012 and for Parliament in 2017.
John and the Liberal Democrats have proudly championed reform of the House of Lords, supporting the Hereditary Peers Bill which will remove the right of the remaining hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. John’s new life peerage will allow him to continue serving the public and our party.
Two Liberal Democrat appointments to the House of Lords have been announced today - Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed MBE and Dr Mark Pack, they join Caroline Pidgeon who was appointed to the House of Lords in July.