The membership of a joint committee on House of Lords reform was announced on Monday.

MPs on the 24-strong committee include former Conservative party leader William Hague, former chancellor Kenneth Clarke, and former chairman of the parliamentary Labour party Clive Soley.

Lords reform is "an urgent necessity if we are to reinstate the role of parliament again and begin to restore people's faith in our political institutions," Clarke said yesterday.

Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have called for a higher number of peers to be elected than the 20 per cent proposed by the government.

Former "cabinet enforcer" Jack Cunningham is expected to chair the body.

Tory peers nominated to the committee include Lord Weatherill, who in 1998 negotiated a deal to allow some hereditary peers to remain in the chamber, and Lord Howe, who has come out against a higher proportion of elected members.