Former North Durham MP Kevan Jones has become Lord Beamish as he took his seat in the House of Lords after retiring at the General Election.

The 60-year-old, who was MP for 23 years, took his seat on the red benches on Wednesday (September 11).

He previously served as veterans minister for two years (2008-2010) and as a shadow defence minister for six years (2010-2016).

He campaigned for many years for justice for subpostmasters affected by the Horizon scandal and this year pushed the Government to address the issue those who claim to be affected by a pre-cursor to Horizon, another allegedly flawed IT system called Capture.

The new Labour peer will be known as Lord Beamish, as exclusively revealed by The Northern Echo in July, which he said is because the village of Beamish is in his former constituency and because the name was used by one of his political heroes.

Jack Lawson, a coal miner who served as an MP for County Durham and served in the governments of Ramsay MacDonald and Clement Attlee, was given a peerage in 1950 and became known as Lord Lawson of Beamish.

The new Lord Beamish told the Echo previously: “It will be a bit weird and a bit strange but  I am pleased I can keep involved and help the Labour Party once I am back on my feet.

“It will allow us to continue with things like the Post Office campaign. There is some unfinished business to do on that. This is more scrutiny work and the one thing I will miss is individual casework and helping constituents.

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“Something I will continue to do is continue the fight for the North East to get the resources it needs.”

He wore traditional scarlet robes for a short introduction ceremony in the upper chamber, where he swore allegiance to the King.

Lord Beamish was supported by Labour peers Lord Grocott and Baroness Ramsey of Cartvale.