Crooks and lazy peers to be kicked out of Lords as party leaders scramble to reform upper chamber The Lords is second only to the Chinese Politburo as the largest legislature in the world MPs are kicked out of the Commons if they are sentenced to more than a year behind bars Plans to make the Lords an elected chamber were shelved last year after a bitter row between Tories and Lib Dems Lord Oakeshott called for political donations to be capped at £5,000 to stop people buying their way into the Lords Peers with serious criminal records or those who stop attending Parliament could be kicked out of the House of Lords. The proposal follows the storm of criticism yesterday over the appointment of 30 new members - a move which left all three main party leaders accused of polluting politics. Now, after being attacked for rewarding major donors, cronies and lobbyists, senior ministers say they will seek to introduce fresh Lords reforms to cut the upper chamber. Lord Hanningfield (pictured left) was jailed, but could continue as a peer, while Lord Archer (right) could lose his seat following his perjury jail term At the moment the Lords, which has swollen to 836 members, is second only to the Chinese Politburo as the largest legislature in the world. But under the proposals peers who do not attend the House or who have left the country will be told to retire. And those who have been given custodial sentences of a year or more will be stripped of their peerages. Currently MPs are kicked out of the Commons if they are sentenced to more than a year behind bars. But peers are simply banned from the Lords for the duration of their sentence or for the period when they are bankrupt. The new plans would affect Tory peer and novelist Lord Archer, who was jailed for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice in 2001. The Lords (pictured) is second only to the Chinese Politburo as the largest legislature in the world. Under new proposals peers who do not attend the House or who have left the country will be told to retire But they would not hit Lord Hanningfield, who received a nine-month sentence in 2011 for fiddling his expenses. Lib Dem ministers, backed by Tory Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Letwin, are now drawing up plans to give life peers the opportunity to retire. They would keep their titles but would lose the right to claim allowances and vote on legislation. Ministers have also vowed to tackle the huge levels of absenteeism. At least 51 peers who are thought to have moved abroad are expected to lose their places. And hundreds of peers rarely or never speak in the upper chamber but are still able to claim allowances of £300 a day. Plans to make the Lords an elected chamber were shelved last year after a bitter row between the Tories and Lib Dems. The Lib Dems are still keen to remove the "historical anomaly" that allows 92 hereditary peers to remain in the Lords. But they are apparently unwilling to push the idea for fear of generating further opposition from the Conservatives. Lord Oakeshott, pictured at his pub the Town of Ramsgate in Wapping, told Mr Clegg: 'I am now saying: Nick, you are in charge, show some leadership, don't bottle out' A senior Lib Dem source said his party would rather have an elected chamber, but that the Coalition will tackle the worst elements of the existing rules. The current system is archaic, as we've seen this week. "Any other reforms in this area must not be seen as a substitute for meaningful democratic reform of the Lords," they said. But we are looking at the areas of low hanging fruit which almost everyone agrees are crying out for reform - some sort of retirement plan, dealing with those who have been convicted of criminal offences and those who never turn up or live abroad. Proposals to offer peers a chance to retire have already been put forward by former Lib Dem leader Lord Steel. But Whitehall sources say government legislation is now being written that would bring all the Lords reforms into effect. Details of the new plans emerged as Nick Clegg came under pressure from his own party to "show some leadership" and stop the next election being fought with "dirty money." Lord Oakeshott, a former member of the joint committee on Lords reform, called for political donations to be capped at £5,000 to stop people buying their way into the Lords. Speaking on the Radio 4"s Today programme, Lord Oakeshott told Mr Clegg: "I am now saying: Nick - you are in charge, show some leadership, don't bottle out. Please take a lead and shame people into doing it. We can stop the next election being fought with dirty money.