The House of Lords beat the House of Commons in the tug of war outside Westminster Abbey on Tuesday night.

The Lords’ victory over the MPs was their first in eight years at the annual Macmillan Tug of War. Lord Thomas put the Lords’ victory down to their weight: “We were bigger than them,” he said.

Politics and the expenses scandal wasn’t far from anyone’s mind during the evening. When a member of the House of Commons' team complained that the Lords’ weight had given them an advantage, one peer responded: “With your expenses claim you could have afforded better food.”

The House of Lords team weighed a total of 850kg versus the MPs’ 783kg. The Lords’ were one of the heaviest teams of the night, which saw five tug-of-war matches. In the other matches The Household Cavalry Regiment beat the RAF Cosford, and the Houses of Parliament Women’s team beat a team of Macmillan nurses.

BBC journalist and presenter Jeremy Vine was the commentator on the matches. One spectator said that Vine’s commentary style seemed to be slightly random: “He just says whatever comes into his head,” she said.

This year’s was the 22nd tug-of-war charity event organised by Macmillan Cancer Support to raise money for cancer patients. The charity was hoping to raise £130,000 during the evening, £100,000 more than the amount raised last year. Last night’s takings have not yet been counted but a Macmillan spokesman said that it looked like they were on target.