Nick Clegg has unveiled plans for an 80 per cent elected House of Lords with the first elections pencilled in for 2015.
The proposals envision a slimmed down 300 member House elected by proportional representation for terms of 15 years.
Speaking in the Commons this afternoon the deputy prime minister said it was the "most basic feature of a modern democracy" that people got to elect the people who made their laws.
The White Paper and draft bill published today will be scrutinised by a cross-party committee of MPs and peers before the introduction of legislation next year.
Included in the document is the possibility that the Bill could be amended to introduce a 100 per cent elected Lords.
All three main political parties committed themselves to reforming the House of Lords in their manifestos and the coalition programme for government pledged to "bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber".
Labour has tried to outflank the Lib Dems by proposing a 100 per cent elected House and its justice spokesman Sadiq Kahn told MPs today that the plans risked becoming a "dog's dinner" that left everyone unhappy.
While Khan agreed the present situation was "unsustainable" he said the plans were a "huge anticlimax" given that 20 per cent of the members would still be appointed including 12 Bishops.
But Clegg said the key was to not to "make the best the enemy of the good"."That approach has stymied Lords reform for too long," he said. "80 per cent is a whole lot better than zero per cent."
And he attacked Khan for making partisan points and "sour observations". He said Labour had thirteen years to push through plans for an elected Lords.
Opposition to reform
There is widespread opposition from traditionalists in both Houses to plans and it has been suggested that the government will use the Parliament Act, that guarantees the Commons gets its way, to force the changes past peers.
A poll conducted by ComRes on the eve of the White Paper's publication showed that 78 per cent of peers were opposed to any move to replace the House of Lords with an elected chamber.
While chief among the concerns of many MPs is the fear that an elected second chamber would no longer defer to the Commons in this way.
They argue that members of an elected House would see no reason to submit to the supremacy of the Commons as they currently do – leading to constitutional and legislative gridlock.
Tory Conor Burns told MPs today that he did not seek election to the Commons to vote for measures that "undermine the democratic legitimacy of this House".
Clegg tried to reassure MPs that the fact the new chamber would be elected by a different electoral system would mean the primacy of the Commons would be maintained.
Lords as a 'launch pad'
There had been concern that people would seek election to a reformed House of Lords simply to begin a wider political career.
Clegg told MPs that he did not want to "transfer the other place into a launch pad for people's political careers in this place".
To combat this members of the new chamber will have to serve a "cooling off period" of one term, five years if the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill passes, before they are able to seek election to the Commons.
The reverse will not be true of people wishing to leave the Commons for the Lords.
Clegg to take backseat on reform
Many Tory backbenchers also see Lords reform as one concession to the Lib Dems too far.
In the wake of the defeat over AV Clegg acknowledged that electoral reform was dead for this Parliament and that from his point of view the "less said the better".
Following today's announcement he is expected to remain fairly tight-lipped on Lords reform as well.
Conscious that he risks being seen as obsessed with constitutional issues that are not "the chatter of the high street"; he is expected to leave much of the work on the reforms to his Tory deputy Mark Harper.
Key points as described in the draft Bill
Name
The name of the House of Lords has been retained for the purposes of the pre-legislative scrutiny process.
Size
A reformed House of Lords of 300 members – wholly or mainly elected in line with the Coalition Agreement. The draft Bill provides for 240 elected and 60 appointed members, as well as 12 Bishopssitting as ex-officio members.
A wholly elected chamberwill be considered if that option is supported as the draft Bill is scrutinised.
Functions
The reformed House of Lords would have the same functions as the current House. It would continue to scrutinise legislation, hold the government to account and conduct investigations.
Powers
The government proposesno change to the constitutional powers and privileges of the House once it is reformed, nor to the fundamental relationship with the House of Commons, which would remain the primary House of Parliament.
That primacy rests partly in the Parliament Acts and in the financial privilege of the House of Commons.
Term
A single non-renewable membership term of three normal election cycles – in practice (given 5 year fixed term Parliaments) that is likely to be 15 years.
Timing of Elections
Elections to take place at the same time as general elections, subject to a caveat where a general election to the House of Commons takes place within 2 years of the last election to the reformed House of Lords.
Staggered elections so that a third of seats (80 seats) is contested at each election.
Electoral system
Elections to the reformed House of Lords would use a proportional system. The government proposes the Single Transferable Vote System (STV), but the cross-party Committee examined alternatives including an open list system.
Appointed members
In an 80 per cent elected House of Lords, the appointed, independent, members would be nominated by a statutory Appointments Commission and recommended by the prime minister for appointment by The Queen. 20 members would be appointed at the time of each election to the reformed House of Lords, with the same term as elected members.
Link with the peerage
The link between the award of a peerage and membership of the second House of Parliament would end. The peerage would revert to being an honour.
Transitional period
A move to a smaller and mainly elected second chamber would not take place in one step but in three phases during which some existing peers would remain as transitional members.
Church of England Bishops
In an 80 per cent elected House of Lords, the government proposes that, in the reformed House of Lords, there would be up to 12 places for representatives of the Church of England.
Salary and Allowances
Members would receive a salary and allowances. Members would also be entitled to receive a pension and the pension fund would be administered by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
Tax status
Members of the House of Lords would continue to be deemed resident, ordinarily resident and domiciled (ROD) for tax purposes.
Disqualification
Members of the reformed House of Lords would be subject to a disqualification regime modelled on that in the House of Commons.
Franchise
The franchise for general elections would be extended to include members of the reformed House of Lords – so members could vote in House of Commons elections. The franchise for elections to the reformed House of Lords would mirror that for general elections to the House of Commons.
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