MAGGIE JONES, above, the woman who lost one of Labour's safest seats at the last general election, is to become a life peer, it was announced today.

Ms Jones lost the Blaenau Gwent seat to independent Peter Law after being selected from an all-women shortlist.

She was selected from a controversial all-women shortlist, a policy now abandoned by the Blaenau Gwent Labour party.

Last November we revealed Ms Jones was on a leaked Downing Street list of working peers - provoking outrage.

Mr Law said then: "That is the way New Labour works. It's a poor example of patronage and power. It's like a consolation prize because she didn't win the parliamentary seat."

And Newport West MP Paul Flynn said last year: "This is standing democracy on its head."

Ms Jones said today: "Blaenau Gwent is moving on and I'm moving on. I'm glad to have a second chance to represent my party."

There are 22 other people on the list released today by Downing Street.

Party-political appointees, six including Ms Jones, are to sit on the Labour benches, seven with the Tories, five are Liberal Democrats, one Ulster Unionist and three Democratic Unionists - the party's first peers.

The last, Colin Boyd, is to sit on the crossbenches as he has a quasi-judicial role as Scotland's Lord Advocate.

The other new peers include Sir Bill Morris, who was general secretary of the Trade and General Workers Union from 1991-2003 - he will become a Labour peer.

Conservative peers will include David James, the business troubleshooter once brought in by the government to salvage the Millennium Dome.