Revealed How members of the Lords benefit from commercial interests

A Guardian investigation into the House of Lords raises questions over the accountability of parliament's second chamber, with revelations about how a string of peers are benefiting from commercial interests.

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One in 10 members have been hired to give political or policy advice, according to their own declarations, and others do paid work for companies that could conflict with their role as legislators.

The findings expose weaknesses in the Lords' code of conduct and raise questions about whether the rules on lobbying and paid employment should be tightened in line with restrictions signed up to by MPs.

The investigation sheds new light on the extent to which money flows into politics from those who hold peerages or go on to secure them, with more than £100m given to the three main parties over the last two decades, much of it by a small group of influential super-donors.

Many members of the Lords make a valuable contribution to its main purpose of refining and scrutinising legislation. But their numbers have ballooned to 835 after a succession of prime ministers packed the house with donors and party loyalists.

Labour has promised some changes but there are calls for more ambitious reforms to an institution Keir Starmer has previously described as "indefensible".

Darren Hughes, the chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: "The Lords should not be a political gated community filled with party donors, as well as friends and supporters of various prime ministers.

These revelations again underscore the urgent need for Lords reform so there is far greater transparency and accountability to guard against confl icts of interest, which risk further corroding the public’s already rockbottom trust in politics.”

In the coming weeks, the Guardian will publish the Lords debate, an investigation that has involved undercover reporting and analysis of parliamentary records, political donations and offi cial documents.