Lords, Ladies & Bloggers

LONDON, April 8, 2008 — -- Blogging has reached a corner of the earth that few ever expected.

It is not some remote African village or the Antarctic. Blogging is already ancient history in places like those.

The new blog comes from a place far more remote from everyday life. It is the House of Lords, Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.

One of the new His Lordship bloggers is Lord Philip Norton of Louth, who told ABC News: "This is part of our campaign [for the public] to gain a wider understanding of what we do."

Until now, the most common image of the lords is of men and women wearing red robes, wigs and tights, parading through the upper chamber when the queen comes to speak, or sometimes falling asleep when fellow lords are holding forth on the European treaty or animal rights.

In fairness, the lords are much more modern and dynamic. They are increasingly career politicians or public servants, rather than spoon-fed aristocrats.

Baroness Frances D'Souza, a British scientist, who was appointed to the lords in 2004, told ABC News: "We are very much more than red robes and ermin. We serve as a vital second chamber, and we take a critically important look at legislation from the lower chamber [The House of Commons]."

So, a group of lords and baronesses have started blogging about their day.

One blogger is Lord Paul Tyler, a veteran member of Parliament and now an honorary life peer in the House of Lords.

One of his recent posts read, "There I was, minding my own business on the long train journey from Cornwall after the Easter weekend, when my pager told me that there would be government statement that afternoon. Nothing remarkable in that. A few minutes later a call on my mobile told me that I had to respond to it for the Lib Dems. Don't panic!!"

It seems unlikely that the producers of "Bridget Jones's Diary" are sending movie scripts to Lord Tyler, but the lords say they are just glad to be in the blogosphere.

Lord Clive Soley told ABC News: "We had 4,000 hits during our first day in March. And people blog back to us with their questions and comments. It is a good way to reach people who would not normally learn about us through traditional media."

For example, Lord Norton blogs about how he and his fellow peers work: "A great deal of work takes place in committees -- indeed, committee work can be much more time consuming that participating in debates in the chamber -- and in peers' offices. Before the House sits at, say, 2.30 p.m. many peers will already have done a full morning's work."

Gripping stuff? Perhaps not, but they've just begun.

Some lords are keenly aware that to grab attention, they need to talk about themselves. Lord Soley says there may be limits to that: "I am not going to dance naked in the chamber," he told ABC News.

But if he puts even that statement in his blog, it may just generate more public comment.

And with the lords planning to release a video blog on YouTube late this month, who knows how far things will go.