A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house.

Australia

In Australia, the term Member of Parliament refers specifically to a member of the Australian House of Representatives.

See also: List of members of the Australian House of Representatives

Canada

In Canada, the term Member of Parliament refers specifically to a member of the Canadian House of Commons.

See also: Members of the Canadian House of Commons

New Zealand

New Zealand has a single-chambered (unicameral) parliament. In New Zealand Member of Parliament is the term for a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, although parliament technically consists of both the House and the Queen. The New Zealand House of Representatives has 120 MPs, elected every three years. There are 69 electorate (constituency) MPs, 7 of whom are elected by Maori who have chosen to vote in special Maori electorates. The remaining 51 MPs are elected from party lists. The speaker of the house is Jonathan Hunt.

Before 1951, New Zealand had a two-chambered (bicameral) parliament, and there were two designations — MHR (Member of the House of Representatives, the body which survives today) and MLC (Member of the Legislative Council).

See also: New Zealand Parliament, New Zealand elections

United Kingdom

The British Parliament is divided into the House of Commons and the House of Lords; though it is often assumed that an MP is a member of Commons, they can be a member of either house. Nonetheless, the letters "MP" are appended as a post-nominal to an individual's name only if that person is a member of the House of Commons; that House currently has 659 members

MPs in the House of Commons are elected for a period of five years or until Parliament is dissolved. The members of the House of Lords are officially appointed by the King or Queen, but the selection is done by the British Prime Minister.

There are several special members of Parliament, including the Prime Minister, other government ministers, the Chief Whip of each party, Privy Counsellors, and the Speaker of the House.

Members of Parliament are technically forbidden to resign their seats. However, appointment to a "paid office under the Crown" disqualifies an MP from sitting in the Commons, and two nominally paid offices - the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead - exist to allow members to resign from the House.

See also:

• List of British MPs (alphabetically sorted, both former and current MPs)
• Lists of British MPs (by election)
  • MPs elected in the UK general election, 2001 &c.
• The number of British MPs and how it has varied historically
• UK topics