On 19 November 2010, it was announced that Storey would be created a
life peer and sit as a
Liberal Democrat in the
House of Lords. He was created
Baron Storey, of
Childwall in the
City of Liverpool, on 2 February 2011. Storey focuses on
education,
social mobility,
regeneration matters, with a specific interest in
North West England and international relations with Europe and the USA. In his March 2011 maiden speech, he advocated for
early intervention strategies in child development, emphasising the critical role of parental support, the value of maintaining
Sure Start centres, and the effective use of the
pupil premium to assist vulnerable children.
Offices Storey was elected co-deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, to serve alongside
Kath Pinnock, on 9 September 2025. Previously, he was the
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for young people (under
Vince Cable's leadership), its education spokesman in the Lords, co-chair of its education, families and young people committee, and a
party whip. Storey sits on the House of Lords
Liaison Committee and
Communications and Digital Committee (of which he was also a member between 2019–2021). In earlier sessions, he was a member of the
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Committee (2012–2013),
Youth Unemployment Committee (2021),
Children and Families Act 2014 Committee (2022) and Education for 11-16 Year Olds Committee (2023).
Legislation Storey's legislative record includes a successful amendment to the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 requiring
Ofsted to comment on
careers guidance provided to students under-19 during
further education institution inspections, which came into force on 2 January 2018. In January 2026, he defeated the government (233–162) on a motion requiring a review of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. The
Department for Education subsequently increased the fund's budget by 10% to £55 million for 2026–27 and confirmed its continuation until 2028, though it declined to reverse cuts to the per-child therapy funding cap. Storey's July 2022 proposal to extend
free school meals to all children in
Universal Credit households was rejected (106–49), but the policy was adopted by the government in June 2025, and announced for implementation from September 2026, with the
Department for Work and Pensions estimating it would lift 100,000 children out of
relative poverty by 2030. His January 2026 amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill proposing a harms-based minimum age framework for children's social media access was defeated 189–65. The government subsequently launched a consultation on children's social media use in March 2026 exploring similar targeted approaches, with legislation expected by late 2026. Storey has introduced several education-focused
private members' bills, including proposals to ban
essay mills, add
water safety to the curriculum, and regulate
home education through registration and support. His essay mill proposal helped lead to a ban in the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, while his other bills informed debates on curriculum content and home education oversight.
APPGs He co-chairs the Water Safety Education
APPG, is an officer of the Education and Social Mobility APPGs, and a member of the APPGs on the
Liverpool City Region, apprenticeships, further education, cities, smoking and health, and schools. == Other roles ==