Paralympian medalist Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson is one of four new non-party political peers in The House of Lords

The UK's best known and successful wheelchair athlete, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson is to become one of four non-party political peers in the House of Lords.

With 16 Olympic medals including 11 golds and more than 30 world records, Tanni retired from athletics and is a member of the athletics committee for the London Olympics 2012 and sits on many boards including UK Athletics.  She has led the anti-doping policy review and has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of athletes with disabilities.

The other three new peers are Design Council chair, executive director of the Institute for Government and former Whitehall mandarin Sir Michael Bichard, Royal Opera House chief executive and former BBC journalist Tony Hall, and eminent surgeon Professor Ajay Kakkar.