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Lord Sewel and four other scandalous peers

Lord Sewel has resigned from the House of Lords after a video obtained by the Sun on Sunday appeared to show him snorting cocaine with two prostitutes.

The former deputy speaker wrote to the the clerk of parliaments on Tuesday morning explaining that he hoped his decision would "help limit and repair the damage I have done".

It is only this month that the power to expel Lords came into force. As a result, its 783 members include several others who have brought the institution into disrepute:

Lord Hanningfield

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The former Tory leader of Essex Council, was jailed for nine months for false accounting and was temporarily banned from the Lords.

He was banned again after being pictured going in to claim his attendance allowance and leaving 20 minutes later.

Baroness Uddin

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Formerly a Labour peer. Suspended from the Lords for 18 months in 2010 and ordered to repay more than £125,000 in expenses after she claimed she lived in Kent when her actual home was in east London.

Lord Taylor of Warwick

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The former Tory peer was jailed for a year for falsely claiming more than £11,200 after listing his nephew’s home in Oxford as his main residence when he really lived in London.

Lord Paul

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The wealthy businessman repaid £38,000 after admitting he had never spent a night at the one-bedroom Oxfordshire cottage he listed as his main home.

He was suspended from the Lords for four months after the privileges committee concluded he had not acted dishonestly or in bad faith.

More: Eight reasons the House of Lords needs to be reformed immediately

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