Representatives from faiths outside the Church of England should sit in the House of Lords, the new leader of the Lords says today.

Lord Williams of Mostyn says he wants to see the number of bishops sitting in the Lords reduced and its composition changed to bring in leaders from other religious groups.

In an interview with ePolitix.com, Lord Williams said: "I personally am very keen [to allow other religious leaders to sit in the Lords] since I have an interest in it, which I declare on the register, since I am a baptised and confirmed member of the Church in Wales, which having been established in the early 1920s has no direct representation in the Lords."

Stressing that reducing the number of bishops in line with the recommendation of the Bishop of Oxford was a "personal opinion" he said: "As you know the Bishop of Oxford is a man, I think, with enormous quality and very highly respected - he was on the commission and he suggested that the number of bishops of the Church of England should go down from 26 to 16."

But he conceded that extending membership of the Lords to other faith groups, a recommendation first made in the Wakeham commission on Lords reform, could pose some problems.

Asked if Lords reform should bring in other religious leaders, he said: "It might do. I think it's easier with the Church of England because it is the Church of the State, by law established. One doesn't have that with other parts of the Christian church, or indeed other faiths."

A spokesman for the Church of England said there was nothing new in Lord Williams' intervention but stressed that a reduction in the number of bishops could damage the "level of service" given by the church in the upper house.

"What Lord Williams is proposing is in line with the Wakeham Commission - which was broadly welcomed by the church. The government has praised the work of the bishops and we believe that to maintain that level of service the number should remain at 26," the spokesman said.