The former chairman of the Conservative Party, Dr Brian Mawhinney, and the former deputy prime minister, Mr Michael Heseltine, are among those named in the Resignation Honours List published today.
The list of those receiving honours, drawn up by the former Prime Minister, Mr John Major, also includes Mr Robert Atkins, a former Northern Ireland minister, who lost his seat at the general election and who is knighted.
At the same time as Mr Major rewards his friends and colleagues for their services to his government, the first Honours List of the new Labour government is also published today.
The Prime Minister, Mr Blair, is strengthening Labour's presence in the House of Lords with the creation of up to 30 life peers, including the film producer, Sir David Puttnam. He has been held responsible for the revival of the British film industry since the 1980s and has also sat on a Labour-led study group on raising education standards.
He is best known for his Oscar-winning production Chariots of Fire. He also produced The Killing Fields and The Mission.
Others included on the list of new working peers are Ms Helena Kennedy QC, described by her colleagues as a "fearsome" lawyer, and the crime writer, Ruth Rendell. Both are made baronesses. Ms Kennedy was born into an Irish working class family in Glasgow and has made a reputation as a formidable campaigner on women's issues.
Labour has further cemented its relationship with the business world by making four of its leading figures working peers. As well as Mr David Sainsbury, chairman and chief executive of supermarket group, J Sainsbury, the list includes Mr Andrew Stone, joint managing director of Marks & Spencer.
Sir Robin Renwick, a former British ambassador to Washington, also becomes a life peer. He was once responsible for ensuring the Sinn Fein President, Mr Gerry Adams, was refused a visa to visit the US. His decision was later overruled, without his prior knowledge.
The former Labour MP, Mr Greville Janner, who campaigned for the release of Swiss bank accounts belonging to Holocaust victims, becomes a life peer too.
The five new Tory working peers include the former Paymaster General, Mr Tristan Garel Jones. But peerages also go to Mr Ian Lang, the former President of the Board of Trade, and Mr Tony Newton.
Mr Michael Heseltine is made a Companion of Honour, one of the highest honours in the British honours system. Dr Mawhinney, who has been knighted, was born in Belfast and served as a Northern Ireland minister under Mr Tom King in 1986. He is now Shadow Home Secretary. He has also served as Secretary of State for Transport.
In what is being seen as a deliberate move, former chancellor, Mr Norman Lamont has been overlooked. Tory Party insiders insisted yesterday the decision not to reward a number of former MPs with peerages was so they might return to the House of Commons at a later date.
The former governor of Hong Kong, Mr Chris Patten, is understood to have turned down a peerage as a sign that he is planning a political comeback.
The new Liberal Democrat peers include Ms Emma Nicholson, who defected from the Tory benches to the Liberal Democrats mid-way through the last parliament, and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster, Prof Sir Trevor Smith.
Pa adds: Cookery writer Delia Smith, a known Labour supporter, is understood to have been offered a peerage but to have turned it down.Last night, Ms Smith would not comment on the matter.