Letter: After the Lords

Sir: If the House of Lords replacement is to be decided by popular vote, who are we likely to end up with? Sundry pop singers, sportspersons, TV "personalities" plus Richard Branson.

The country already has a pool of individuals of varied political persuasion with a proven record of working for the public, overseeing large budgets within tight spending limits, and political acumen. These are our retiring lord mayors. List the county, city and town councils with the 500 biggest budgets and each year the retiring mayor from one third of the list would serve for three years. The house would be far more representative than at present.

Even changes to signs would be minimal: simply change the name to "the House of Lord Mayors".

R N FRANKLIN

Birmingham