Lord Mandelson will deliver snub to region

7:59am Saturday 11th October 2008

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COMEBACK kid Peter Mandelson will deliver a snub to his former North-East constituency when he takes his seat in the House of Lords on Monday.

The former Hartlepool MP, who was catapulted back into the Cabinet as Business Secretary in Gordon Brown’s reshuffle, will take the simple title of “Lord Mandelson”.

Many MPs chose to recognise their former constituency if they are granted a peerage after leaving the Commons – for example, Lord (Derek) Foster of Bishop Auckland.

Mr Mandelson’s aides stressed that Hartlepool “will not be forgotten” when the new peer adopts a longer title on official documentation.

However, The Northern Echo understands that full title will be Lord Mandelson of Foy in the County of Herefordshire and of Hartlepool in the County of Durham.

The inclusion – ahead of Hartlepool – of the tiny village of Foy, just outside Rosson- Wye, is a major surprise, given that Mr Mandelson was born and grew up in London.

There is no mention of Foy in the definitive biography of the key architect of New Labour, but it is understood he has fond memories of time spent there as a youngster.

Lord Mandelson, as he will become, will take his seat as a Labour life peer in a ceremony on Monday, when he will don the famous red ermine and swear the oath of allegiance to the Queen.

The so-called “Prince of Darkness” became Hartlepool’s MP in April 1992, serving until September 2004 when he resigned to take up a post as a European Commissioner.

During those 12 years, he was twice forced to resign from the Cabinet. When Mr Brown, to everyone’s surprise, brought him back last week, Mr Mandelson joked that his appointment would be “third time lucky”.