THE robe was trimmed with ermine and red, matching the roses sported by Labour peers.

Lord Kinnock of Bedwellty took his seat amongst the deep red leather benches of the House of Lords yesterday - a place he once condemned as somewhere for the descendants of "brigands, muggers, bribers and gangsters".

And what would the people whose towns bore him and took him to their hearts think of the sight of the former Bedwellty and Islwyn MP, the man who led Labour against the onslaught of Thatcherism, striding into the heart of the British Establishment?

Time was when the then Neil Kinnock, Valleys firebrand standing on a platform pushing the cause of mining communities, the oppressed, the poor, baulked at the mere existence of the upper chamber.

After all, Mr Kinnock was born in Tredegar, home town of Aneurin Bevan, the architect of the NHS, and the child of a district nurse. He imbibed socialism with his mother's milk.

In a series of articles and speeches in the late 1970s, Mr Kinnock called for the abolition of the Lords as unelected and "illegitimate".

As late as 2003, the former MP told a website that he did not feel "magnetised" by the Lords, even with the prospect of reform.

But yesterday former Euro Commissioner and chairman of the British Council Lord Kinnock, 62, sponsored by Baroness Amos and Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, one of Mr Kinnock's former aides, joined their club.

He took an oath of loyalty to the Queen, and there to see him elevated to the peerage was his oldest relative - his Aunt Sally from Blackwood.

It was a spectacular U-turn. On accepting the peerage last year, Lord Mr Kinnock said he did so for "practical political reasons."

He added: "It is a good base for campaigning on national issues like education, sustainable transport, industrial change and the ageing society and global concerns, particularly poverty and oppression."

Few in his home patch - the Bedwellty constituency he represented from 1970 to 1983 until it became Islwyn, which he represented until 1995 - agreed.

Lorne Davies, 56, of Tamer Close, Pontllanfraith, told the Argus: "He used to be a hero of mine, so I'm very disappointed with him. The House of Lords is just a joke.

"When I think of Tony Benn forfeiting his seat in the House of Lords, he showed he was a true voice of socialism."

Haydn Morgan, 67, who lives just off David Street, Blackwood, said: "Kinnock said he would never go to the House of Lords and now he is going. He is going back on his word."

Whatever the reservations in Gwent, yesterday was a family occasion for the Kinnocks.

Lord Kinnock's wife Glenys attended with her brother Colin Parry, from Anglesey.

The Kinnocks' son Stephen, his children Johanna (seven), Camilla (five) and daughter Rachel with her husband Stuart were also there.

Euro MP Mrs Kinnock said: "Neil chose Bedwellty as his title because it was the first constituency he represented. There will always be a link with the Valleys and with Gwent."

And if some people want to question that, Mrs Kinnock made it clear there will be no airs and graces as far as she is concerned.

She told the Argus she would not be taking the courtesy title of Lady. "I will still be Glenys," she said firmly.