Village people turn on Mandelson

The good people of Foy, Herefordshire, are none too pleased that Lord Mandelson has chosen to use their village's name in his title – the Labour cabinet minister sits in the House of Lords as 'Baron Mandelson of Foy in the county of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the county of Durham'. The latest issue of the local magazine, The Phoenix, runs the following editorial: "Lord Mandelson's reputation, if you can believe Westminster tittle-tattle, is as Machiavellian as the media portray him. It is therefore no great honour for Foy to have its name carried by him into history."

The article, which has been written by the magazine's editor, Suzanne Farr, continues: "At the very least, the village should have been consulted. Were Foy residents given some say in whether they wished the name of their village to be appropriated in this way? After all, the association of Mandelson with the village is somewhat tenuous and he hardly seems to be regarded as a son of the village. Why couldn't he have just left it as Lord Mandelson of Hartlepool? Why did he need Foy as well?"

Mandelson chose to include the village's name in his rather unwieldy title after visiting the place in his youth. He liked it so much he even bought a cottage there in the Eighties for £30,000, but sold it in 1992 for £70,000. But none of this impresses the locals in Foy. Adds Farr: "I had a word with one or two people and it appears everyone is mystified about why he took the name of the village. He doesn't seem to have contributed anything locally and people think it is just rather odd." ·