NEIL KINNOCK, the former Labour Party leader and Islwyn MP, is to become a peer in the House of Lords.

The outgoing European Commissioner will take a seat in the Lords when the controversial new European Commission is in place.

Mr Kinnock (pictured) said he accepted the invitation from Tony Blair for "practical political reasons."

"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," he said.