By Duncan Mackay

Chris Holmes in front of London 2012 logoAugust 1 - Chris Holmes, director of Paralympic Integration for London 2012, has been made a Peer in the House of Lords, it was announced today.


He will sit in the Lords, the Upper House of Britain's Parliament, representing the Conservative Party. 

Holmes is among 30 new peers set to join the House of Lords.

The former swimmer won a total of nine gold medals, five silvers, and one bronze at the Paralympic Games from 1988 to 2000, after becoming blind as a teenager due to a genetic eye disorder.

"I'm really excited and looking forward to the challenge and hope to make a contribution," said Holmes.

He will take his place alongside Sebastian Coe and Paul Deighton,  the former chairman and chief executive of London 2012, who also sit in the Lords.

Coe was already a member of the Lords before London 2012 but Deighton was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron a junior Minister in the Government as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, following the success of the Games.

He is currently leading on infrastructure and economic delivery, including responsibility for implementing the Government's National Infrastructure Plan and supporting the Culture Secretary with the 2012 Olympics legacy.

Holmes will also take his place in the Lords alongside Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, an 11-time Paralympic gold medallist, who was appointed in March 2010 and sits a crossbencher. 

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