A FORMER MP has made it through his first seven months as a Lord and vowed to continue to raise issues he became aware of during his time representing Swindon.

Michael Wills stepped down after 13 years as Labour MP for North Swindon at the General Election and was elevated to the House of Lords.

The work of peers is not as high profile as that of MPs but since becoming Lord Wills of North Swindon and Woodside Park he has repeatedly called for a wholly elected House of Lords.

“I want a wholly elected chamber and that is what I will continue to raise and call for,” he said.

“There are some very distinguished people in there but we are ultimately responsible for legislation and therefore need to be accountable and lords are not.

“In a democracy you have to be accountable and we do that though being elected.

“This, however, is not a majority view in the House of Lords.

“The House should be all elected, as we could not have a hybrid system with half elected and others not.

“Everyone has to be on an equal footing.”

Lord Wills said the Lords is significantly different to the Commons and he missed dealing with his constituents on a day to day basis.

“It is unbelievably different in the Lords,” he said.

“We are 100 yards or so from the Commons but it is extremely different and I miss connecting with my constituents, as you do not have that in the Lords.

“MPs spend a lot of time helping their constituents and getting things done for them and, while you cannot help everyone, you do help many people.

“The Lords is a very formidable place, I think because people go there at the end of their careers, not as in the Commons when many people are building their careers.

“There is less tension, it is very amiable.

“There are very distinguished people in their field, in the tuition fees debate the majority of people who spoke were vice chancellors.”

In the New Year, Lord Wills is set to put forward an amendment to the Localism Bill aimed at getting councils to be more transparent.

He said previous problems with how Swindon Council dealt with Freedom of Information Act requests led him to draft the amendment.

He said: “There are many good local authorities but there are some, including Swindon, who do not give out information they should and people do not know what to do to challenge this.

“I was responsible for the FOI for three years in Parliament and I have always been a supporter of transparency as I think it is crucial to democracy.

“If more power is going to local authorities then they have to be accountable.”

In his time as MP, Lord Wills also worked on plans to change the voting system which he wants to continue in the Lords.