THERE were demands today for the election of dozens of peers from the north west.
A new report says only 36 members of the House of Lords live in the region - compared to 223 in London and the south east.
The report's authors call for a shake-up in the way peers are chosen to end the 'north-south divide'.
The report was drawn up by the New Local Government Network, an independent think tank which seeks to find ways of giving more power to people in the regions.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, the group has obtained data it says proves the north west region is `vastly underrepresented' by members of the Lords.
But the NLGN says its peers are more hardworking than their southern colleagues, with an attendance record of nearly 50 per cent, compared to the average of 38 per cent.
Among the local peers are former Labour MPs Lord Morris of Manchester, Lord Davies of Oldham, Lord Pendry and Lord McNally. The group also includes Manchester peer Lord Barnett and the Bishop of Manchester.
Other Greater Manchester lords include Lord Bradley - formerly Keith Bradley, Labour MP for Manchester Withington - Lord Lee of Trafford, and Wigan council leader Lord Peter Smith.
London is home to 123 members of the House of Lords, and the rest of the south east contributes another 100. In the north west there is a bias towards more affluent parts of Cheshire and Greater Manchester.
NLGN director Chris Leslie said: "The north west has only just over half the number of peers it should have given the size of the region's population.
"It isn't fair that the north is so poorly represented and that our laws are being written without all corners of the country having a fair say."
The report's authors, James Hulme and Nick Hope, say there is a significant north-south divide - even though peers in the south have a poor attendance record.
Their report says: "The government is consulting on reform of the House of Lords and we argue that a reformed chamber could adopt a regional list system to ensure all regions are properly represented."
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London 'bias' in the Lords
September 02, 2008
Only 36 peers from the north west
Showing comments 1 to 8 and replies | View All
Rammylad (02/09/2008 at 08:22)
How timely this call for more North West Peers! Labour must think we are stupid. Bring on the Referendum and the election.
Mark, South Manchester (02/09/2008 at 09:47)
The so called national media's so called "liberal left" values - seem to take a back seat when it comes to discussing the concentration of power, wealth & opportunity in LONDON!!
Emjay See (02/09/2008 at 10:52)
Mad Welsh Scotsman, Cadishead (03/09/2008 at 13:12)
Mad Welsh Scotsman, Cadishead (03/09/2008 at 13:17)
Most of them are only lords because their ancestors stole our country and were given it by their king, does that make them suitable to govern our laws NO! If we were given a vote on them I doubt we would have this Human rights law now protecting the criminals as the public would have spoken against it at the ballots
Black Flag (03/09/2008 at 13:35)
The reason we have human rights law is that when people actually understand the protection they provide, rather than buying into the nonsense that they just protect criminals, they make sense as a protection against overly powerful governments.
Bill of Bury, Lancashire (03/09/2008 at 20:44)
Black Flag (04/09/2008 at 09:21)
Juries have stood the test of time in the judicial system, so why not use them here. Let everybody who would be prepared to sit in the upper house say so on the electoral registration form and then pick 200 or so of them at random to do the job. It's the only system which is guaranteed to be unbiased.