THE former MP for Furness has been formally introduced in the House of Lords.

It was announced that John Woodcock - MP for Barrow and Furness between 2010 and 2019, and now officially Lord Walney - would be made a peer earlier this summer.

Yesterday, he was inducted in the House of Lords - now the largest legislative chamber in the world, after China's National People's Congress - by two peers with ties to the military and submarine spheres.

Former NATO secretary general and Labour defence secretary, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, and esteemed historian and academic, Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, sponsored Mr Woodcock as part of yesterday's midday ceremony in the parliamentary upper house.

Lord Robertson has been among one of the most influential proponents of the UK's nuclear deterrent, which is maintained by Barrow-built submarines.

Meanwhile, Lord Hennessy, in his capacity as an academic, has written an authoritative history of the UK Submarine Service, entitled 'The Silent Deep'.

Speaking after yesterday's induction ceremony, Mr Woodcock said: "I thought I never got nervous anymore after ten years of public speaking as an MP but the enormity and honour of the whole thing almost got the better of me.

"I had to do extra rehearsals because I kept screwing up!"

Simon Fell, the current MP for the Barrow and Furness constituency, sat in on the upper chamber ceremony.

Commenting yesterday, he said: "I wish John all the best.

"Furness is better off with more people fighting for it and there are few people with more experience than Lord Walney."

Mr Woodcock added: "It is hard for me to describe how much it meant to have Lord Robertson and Lord Hennessy as my supporters on the day.

"Time and again, they came to Barrow's aid behind the scenes as we fought to win the argument on getting what eventually became the submarine programme approved over the last decade.

"They are the finest allies the town could have. I am proud to know them and even prouder to count them as my friends."