Lord Teverson is swapping the lofty grandeur of the House of Lords for the buzz of Ivybridge Community College when he visits the school on Friday, November 10.

The college is taking part in the Peers in Schools programme, which sees members of the House of Lords visiting schools to explain what they do and how the upper house works.

Lord Teverson is a member of the Liberal Democrat Party and sits on the EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee and the European Union Committee. In 1994, he was elected Member of the European Parliament for Cornwall and West Plymouth, becoming one of the first two Liberal Democrats ever to be elected to the European Parliament, alongside Graham Watson in Somerset and North Devon. He became a life peer in June 2006.

Since the Peers in Schools programme launched in September 2007, members of the House of Lords have spoken to around 50,000 school children. They support the teaching of the citizenship and social studies curriculum (Key Stages 4 and 5).

Members of the House of Lords come from a range of different backgrounds and include: academics, former teachers, scientists, lawyers, former cabinet ministers and civil servants. Lord Teverson was a former Chairman of Finance South West Ltd and Chief Whip of the European Liberal Democrats from 1997-99.