Encyclopedia > Resignation from the British House of Commons
Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. In order to circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used. Appointment to a "paid office under the Crown" disqualifies an individual from sitting as a Member of Parliament (MP). MPs are commonly appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to one of the two following offices in order to allow MPs to effectively resign their seats: 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. ...
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...
A resignation is the formal act of giving up ones office or position. ...
In the common law, legal fictions are suppositions of fact taken to be true by the courts of law, but which are not necessarily true. ...
The Crown is a term which is used to separate the government authority and property of the state in a kingdom from any personal influence and private assets held by the current Monarch. ...
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. ...
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. ...
- Steward or Bailiff of Her Majesty's Three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham in the county of Buckingham and
- Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead
A number of offices have been used for this purpose historically, but only the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead are used today. The Chiltern Hundreds date back to the 13th century. ...
The Manor of Northstead was once a collection of fields and farms in the parish of Scalby in the North Riding of Yorkshire. ...
The offices are only nominally paid. Generally they are held until they are again used to effect the resignation of an MP. The Chiltern Hundreds is usually used alternately with the Manor of Northstead, which makes it possible for two members to resign at exactly the same time. When more than two MPs resign at a time, as for example happened when 15 Ulster unionist MPs resigned in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement on December 17, 1985, the resignations are in theory not simultaneous but instead spread throughout the day, with each member holding one of the offices for a short time. The holder may subsequently be re-elected to Parliament. Statistics Area: 24,481 km² Population (2006 estimate) 1,993,918 Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, IPA: ) forms one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland. ...
In the context of Irish politics, Unionists are people in Northern Ireland, who wish to see the continuation of the Act of Union 1800, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which Northern Ireland, created in that latter Act, remains part of the United Kingdom of Great...
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. ...
December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
In 1623 a rule was declared that said that members of Parliament were given a trust to represent their constituencies, and therefore were not at liberty to resign them. In those days, Parliament was weaker, and service was sometimes considered a resented duty rather than a position of power and honour. However, an MP who accepted an "office of profit" from the Crown was obliged to leave his post, it being feared that his independence would be compromised if he were in the King's pay. Therefore, the legal fiction was invented that the MP who wished to give up his seat applied to the King for the post of "Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds" or "Steward of the Manor of Northstead", obsolescent offices of negligible duties and scant profit, but in the King's gift nonetheless. Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ...
In the common law, legal fictions are suppositions of fact taken to be true by the courts of law, but which are not necessarily true. ...
The prohibition was on an MP accepting an office of profit under the Crown, but it did not disqualify someone with such an office being elected to the House of Commons. As a result this meant a by-election when anyone became a government minister, including the Prime Minister. The law was partly changed in 1919, and finally in 1926, to end the need for members of the government to undergo re-election. A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ...
The Chiltern Hundreds were first used as a pretext for resignation on January 17, 1751, by John Pitt, who wanted to vacate his seat for Wareham and stand for Dorchester. January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Events Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow March 25 - For the last time, New Years Day is legally on March 25 in England and Wales. ...
The Manor of Northstead was first used as a pretext for resignation on April 6, 1842, by Patrick Chalmers, Member for Montrose District of Burghs. April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ...
1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
Other offices that were formerly used for the same purpose are:
- Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of East Hundred, or Hendred, Berks. This stewardship was first used for parliamentary purposes on September 14, 1763 by William Hamilton, and was in more or less constant use until 1840, after which it disappeared. This manor comprised copyholds, the usual courts were held, and the stewardship was an actual and active office. The manor was sold by public auction in 1823, but in some manner the crown retained the right of appointing a steward for seventeen years after that date.
- Steward of the Manor of Hempholme, Yorkshire. This manor appears to have been of the same nature as that of Northstead. It was in lease until 1835. It was first used for parliamentary purposes in 1845 and was in constant use until 1865. It was sold in 1866.
- Escheator of Munster. Escheators were officers commissioned to secure the rights of the crown over property which had legally escheated (forfeited) to it from those attainted or condemned. In Ireland mention is made of escheators as early as 1256. In 1605 the escheatorship of Ireland was split up into four, one for each province, but the duties soon became practically nominal. The escheatorship of Munster was first used for parliamentary purposes in the Irish parliament from 1793 to 1800, and in the united parliament (24 times for Irish seats and once for a Scottish seat) from 1801 to 1820. After 1820 it was discontinued and finally abolished in 1838.
- Steward of the Manor of Old Shoreham, Sussex. This manor belonged to the duchy of Cornwall, and it is difficult to understand how it came to be regarded as a crown appointment. It was first used for parliamentary purposes in 1756, and then, occasionally, until 1799, in which year it was sold by the duchy to the duke of Norfolk.
- Steward of the Manor of Poynings, Sussex. This manor reverted to the crown on the death of Lord Montague about 1804, but was leased up to about 1835. It was only twice used for parliamentary purposes, in 1841 and 1843.
- Escheator of Ulster. This appointment was used in the united Parliament three times, for Irish seats only; the last time in 1819.
- February 1801: William Talbot (Kilkenny)
- March 1804: John Claudius Beresford (Dublin City)
- February 1819: Richard Nevill (Wexford Town)
September 14 is the 257th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (258th in leap years). ...
1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
| Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...
1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ...
1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...
Escheat is an obstruction of the course of descent and the consequent reversion of property to the original grantor. ...
Statistics Area: 24,607. ...
The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ...
1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
| Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...
Sussex is a traditional county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. ...
1756 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...
1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
Statistics Area: 24,481 km² Population (2006 estimate) 1,993,918 Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, IPA: ) forms one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland. ...
The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ...
1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...
1819 common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...
In popular culture
When the Tory MP character Simon Kerslake considers resigning from the House of Commons in Jeffrey Archer's political novel First Among Equals, he comes very close to accepting the post of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. Simon Kerslake is a fictional character in the political novel First Among Equals, by Jeffrey Archer. ...
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born April 15, 1940) is the successful author of a number of popular novels, raised considerable sums for charities, was a former MP and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, who was later convicted of perjury. ...
First among Equals could refer to Primus inter pares, a political concept or First Among Equals, a novel by Jeffrey Archer ...
In The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, a BBC drama, a shadow party MP has to apply for the post of Steward of the Chiltren Hundreds after falling asleep during a debate on airline safety, which resulted in a faulty airliner exploding over north London.
See also The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 was an Act of the British Parliament which prohibited certain groups of people from becoming members of the House of Commons. ...
A sinecure (from Latin sine, without, and cura, care) means an office which requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. ...
This is a list of the names and constituencies of Members of Parliament appointed as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, a notional office of profit under the crown which is used to resign from the House of Commons. ...
This is a list of the names and constituencies of the Members of Parliament appointed as Steward of the Manor of Northstead, a notional office of profit under the crown which is used to resign from the House of Commons. ...
This is a list of the Members of Parliament appointed as Escheator of Munster, a notional office of profit under the crown which was used to resign from the Irish House of Commons, and after the Union, that of the United Kingdom. ...
This is a list of the Members of Parliament appointed as Steward of the Manor of Old Shoreham, a notional office of profit under the crown which is used to resign from the House of Commons. ...
This is a list of the Members of Parliament appointed as Steward of the Manor of Poynings, a notional office of profit under the crown which is used to resign from the House of Commons. ...
External links - Parliamentary Factsheet on the Chiltern Hundreds (PDF format)
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