The man who has earned the nickname Mr Fixit, because of his low-profile, no-nonsense approach to problem solving, is a seasoned politician of both Houses of Parliament.

He already knows most of the personalities involved in the debate and, as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, has strengthened his reputation as a pragmatic negotiator.

Opposition to reform

That he should be offered the job will raise some eyebrows in light of his opposition to change in the second chamber.

Five years ago, the then Leader of the House of Lords, wrote: "The House ... does work.

"To tinker at the edges with reform of the Lords seems to me likely to prove burdensome out of all proportion to any benefits achieved," Lord Wakeham wrote in the parliamentary newsletter The House Magazine.

The Brighton bomb shattered John Wakeham's life

His initial ascent through the Tory ranks under Margaret Thatcher went largely unnoticed. It took a tragedy, in the form of the IRA's Brighton bombing, to catapult him into the spotlight. Mr Wakeham's first wife Roberta was killed in the blast and he was trapped in the rubble of the Grand Hotel for seven hours. He later re-married.

Often referred to as a grandee of the Tory Party, he rarely turns down the opportunity to set the record straight.

John Wakeham entered politics at the relatively late age of 42, having started out as an accountant before making his reputation as a self-made businessman.

It's a long way from his original ambition, to become a writer. He gave up on the idea after his father bluntly told Wakeham junior he lacked the talent.

Before he entered the Commons in 1974, Mr Wakeham was a wealthy businessman with more than 60 directorships to his name.

Succession of top jobs

His business nous probably endeared him to Baroness Thatcher, whom he served as chief whip through the boom years of her rule in the 1980s.

He went on to become Leader of the Commons in the late '80s, piloting arrangements to televise Parliament. He won further praise from his own side for successfully turning around the fated task of electricity privatisation in 1989, as energy secretary.

Wakeham had the reputation of Lady Thatcher's lieutenant

In 1992 he was appointed a life peer by John Major and took hold of the reins at the PCC in 1995. In that role he has vigorously defended self-regulation for the newspaper industry, helping to beat back the threat of legislation.

It is a stance that earned him the jibe of sounding "like a eunuch" from Gerald Kaufman, the Labour chairman of the then National Heritage Select Committee.

In appointing him to the Royal Commission on Lords reform, the government would do well to heed Lord Wakeham's own analysis that not everything he touches turns to gold.

"The more people call you a fixer the more difficult it is to be the fixer next time," he said in 1996.

Resignation row

As if to prove the point, last year he quit as chairman of the British Horseracing Board after objecting to a radical plan to shake up the sport's financing.

But evidence suggests he will be a powerful calming influence amid the heated debate of the Royal Commission.