Think expense-fiddling MPs bringing politics into disrepute are a modern phenomenon? Not so. Here one Labour MP picks his top 10 bad apples in British and Irish parliamentary history.

1. Ralph Crepyn (London, 1283) was wounded in a violent brawl with Laurence Ducket in 1285 over a woman called Alice and had his friends murder Ducket and dress it up as suicide. Alice was burnt alive, the friends were hanged and Crepyn died in the Tower.

2. John de Haltby (Ipswich, 1339) was so hated for his brand of political thuggery, having led a violent assault that ousted the equally despised sitting bailiffs in Ipswich in 1321, that when he was murdered in 1344 the town refused to arrest the perpetrators.

3. Giles Mompesson (Great Bedwyn, 1614 and 1621) was fined, expelled from parliament and told to parade up the Strand "with his face in a horse's anus" for extortionately abusing his royal monopoly for the licensing of inns and manufacture of gold thread in 1621.

4. Sir John Trevor (several seats, 1679-95), the cross-eyed Speaker of the Commons, took to his bed for two days in 1695 when found guilty by the House of corruptly taking 1,000 guineas to help expedite the orphans bill for the City of London Corporation. It did not stop MPs from removing him.

5. When the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720 virtually the whole government was implicated, including the First Lord of the Treasury Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland; the Northern secretary James Stanhope; Chancellor of the Exchequer John Aislabie; the Southern secretary James Craggs, and his father James, the Postmaster General. Stanhope and the two Craggs died before justice caught up with them, but Aislabie and two other MPs were expelled from the Commons for their dodgy dealings. Sunderland, who was equally guilty, got off.

George Bubb Dodington. Photograph: Alamy

6. George Bubb Dodington (several seats, 1722-61) was described by colleagues as "the most tawdry man in the nation" and "the reprostituted prostitute" because of his compulsive, self-seeking ambition. His sole redeeming feature was his tender speech opposing the execution of Admiral John Byng MP in 1757.

7.Sir William Paxton tried to buy the borough seat of Carmarthen in 1802 with 11,070 breakfasts, 36,901 dinners, 25,275 gallons of ale and 11,068 bottles of spirits. He lost, but was elected the following year for Carmarthenshire.

8.General John Burgoyne (Midhurst 1761-68, Preston 1768-92) helped secure his election in the tempestuous contest in Preston in 1768 by turning up at the hustings with two loaded pistols. He was allowed to keep the seat but was fined £1,000 for incitement to violence. He subsequently surrendered to the American colonists as commander of British forces at Saratoga on 17 October 1777.

9.Beauchamp Bagenal (Enniscorthy 1761-69, Carlow 1768-83), fought countless duels, including one at the age of 60 with a neighbour whose pigs had destroyed his flowerbeds, insisting on this occasion that the challenge be held in the afternoon and that he be allowed to take aim seated on account of his advancing years. The neighbour was badly wounded and Bagenal's chair was shot to pieces.

James Brudenell. Photograph: Alamy

10.James Brudenell (several seats 1818-37, then 7th Earl of Cardigan) was, a braggart and a bully who was serially unfaithful to his wives and mistresses, was thrown out of the army in 1834 for "reprehensible conduct". In 1841 he was acquitted of killing one of his former officers by a jury of his peers, despite clear evidence to the contrary, thereby proving, in the words of the Times, "that there was one law for the rich and another for the poor". He then led the foolhardy charge of the Light Brigade in 1854.

• Parliament: The Biography by Chris Bryant is published on 27 March, £25. To order a copy for £20 with free UK p&p, call 0330 333 6846, or visit theguardian.com/bookshop.

• This article was amended on 24 March 2014. An earlier version referred only to Britsh parliamentary history. Beauchamp Bagenal was Irish and sat in the Irish parliament before the Act of Union in 1800. In addition, an image purporting to be of Sir John Trevor was in fact of Sir John Houblon, first governor of the Bank of England, and has been removed.