He may be columnist of the year, but surely Martin Freeman of the Evening Herald is getting ideas above his station?

One of his latest pages in the Plymouth paper saw him apparently swathed in ermine robes in front of the House of Lords.

Computer trickery had played a part, but the picture was merely illustrating his bid to nominate himself for the modernised House of Lords.

The House of Lord Appointments Commission is inviting people to nominate themselves.

If you are interested, you can write off for a seven-page application form, but Martin opted to visit the website and download a version.

In his usual entertaining style, Martin shared with the paper’s readers his reasons for recommending himself as a non-party political peer.

“One has stopped reading the popular papers and one now only listens to Radio 4 news so one hasn’t a clue what’s happening. One feels one really could stand up in the House of Lords and say: ‘Is this ‘Becks’ a footballer? Rugby or association football?’ in a convincing tone.”

In the referees section he included Uriah Rennie and Graham Poll: “One doesn’t actually know them, but they’re the only referees one can think of. Reach them via the Football Association.”

Tongue-in-cheek, Martin invited readers to support his application by writing to the Appointments Commission at 35 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BQ, or by e-mail to [email protected].

Closing date is November 17.

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