| Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham | |
|---|---|
since 17 March 2025 | |
| Appointer | Chancellor of the Exchequer |
Appointment to the position ofCrown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds (or theThree Hundreds of Chiltern) is a procedural device to allowmembers of Parliament (MPs) toresign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Since MPs are technically unable to resign their seats in theHouse of Commons, they must resort to alegal fiction. An appointment to an "office of profit underThe Crown" disqualifies an individual from sitting as an MP. Although several offices were used in the past to allow MPs to resign, only the stewardships of theChiltern Hundreds and theManor of Northstead are in present use.[1]
On 2 March 1624, a resolution was passed by the House of Commons making it illegal for an MP to quit or wilfully give up their seat. Believing that officers of the Crown could not remain impartial, the House passed a resolution on 30 December 1680 stating that an MP who "shall accept any Office, or Place of Profit, from the Crown, without the Leave of this House ... shall be expelled [from] this House." However, MPs were able to hold Crown Stewardships until 1740, whenSir Watkin Williams-Wynn was deemed to have vacated his Commons seat after becoming Steward of the Lordship and Manor of Bromfield and Yale.[1] The practice of leaving the house when appointed as a minister of crown would result in aministerial by-election until the early 20th century when this requirement was removed for most substantive offices.[citation needed]
TheChiltern Hundreds last needed a Crown Steward in the 18th century. WhenJohn Pitt wished to vacate his seat forWareham in order to stand forDorchester, the Crown Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds was available for this purpose. Pitt was appointed Crown Steward on 25 January 1751.[1]
A number of other offices were subsequently used for resignation, but only the Chiltern Hundreds and theCrown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead are still in use.[1] Appointees to the Chiltern Hundreds are alternated with the Manor of Northstead, allowing two MPs to resign at once. When more than two MPs resign, such as the 1985 walkout of Ulster Unionist MPs, appointees are dismissed after a few hours to allow other resigning MPs to take their place.[1] The Parliamentary Information Office has produced a list of those appointed to the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds since 1850.[2]
| Date | Member[20] | Constituency | Party | Reason for resignation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 October 2000 | Betty Boothroyd | West Bromwich West | Speaker | Retiring asSpeaker of the House of Commons.[74] | |
| 22 June 2004 | Terry Davis | Birmingham Hodge Hill | Lab | Appointed Secretary-General of theCouncil of Europe. | |
| 27 June 2007 | Tony Blair | Sedgefield | Lab | Appointed Envoy of theQuartet on the Middle East.[75] | |
| 18 June 2008 | David Davis | Haltemprice and Howden | Con | Seeking re-election in protest to theCounter-Terrorism Act 2008.[76] | |
| 8 June 2009[77] | Ian Gibson | Norwich North | Lab | Allegedmisuse of allowances led to his being ruled ineligible for selection as a Labour candidate by anNEC panel.[78] | |
| 13 January 2010[79] | Iris Robinson | Strangford | DUP | Ill health; followedallegations about her personal life.[80] | |
| 8 February 2011 | Eric Illsley | Barnsley Central | Lab | Pleaded guilty to false accounting in relation to claims for parliamentary expenses.[81] | |
| 2 March 2012[82] | Marsha Singh | Bradford West | Lab | Ill health.[83] | |
| 22 October 2012[84] | Alun Michael | Cardiff South and Penarth | Lab | To contest thePolice and Crime Commissioner election forSouth Wales Police Force Area.[85] | |
| 5 November 2012[86] | Denis MacShane | Rotherham | Lab | Standards and Privileges Committee of the House of Commons recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for six months, for knowingly submitting false invoices. | |
| 5 February 2013[87] | Chris Huhne | Eastleigh | Lib Dem | Pleaded guilty toperverting the course of justice. | |
| 30 April 2014[88] | Patrick Mercer | Newark | Ind | Elected as Conservative, but had quit the whip at the commencement of investigations on 31 May 2013.[89] The Standards Committee of the House of Commons agreed a report recommending he be suspended from the service of the House for six months for breaking the rule against paid advocacy. | |
| 30 September 2014[90] | Mark Reckless | Rochester and Strood | Con | To seek re-election as aUKIP candidate. | |
| 9 May 2016[91] | Sadiq Khan | Tooting | Lab | Elected asMayor of London. | |
| 26 October 2016[92][93] | Zac Goldsmith | Richmond Park | Con | Seeking re-election having pledged to do so should the Government endorse a third runway atHeathrow Airport. | |
| 23 January 2017[94] | Hon. Tristram Hunt | Stoke-on-Trent Central | Lab | To direct theVictoria and Albert Museum. | |
| 16 January 2018[95] | Barry McElduff | West Tyrone | SF | Became embroiled in a controversy over theKingsmill massacre on social media. | |
| 28 October 2019[96] | John Mann | Bassetlaw | Lab | Nomination to House of Lords announced in2019 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours. No by-election held due to the2019 general election being called. | |
| 16 March 2021[97] | Mike Hill | Hartlepool | Lab | Pending sexual harassment tribunal. | |
| 10 May 2021[98] | Tracy Brabin | Batley and Spen | Lab Co-op | Election asMayor of West Yorkshire. | |
| 3 May 2022[99] | Imran Ahmad Khan | Wakefield | Con | Criminal conviction for sexual assault. Elected as Conservative in 2019, suspended from the party in June 2021 pending a trial. Expelled after he was convicted in April 2022.[100][101] | |
| 21 October 2022[102] | Christian Matheson | City of Chester | Lab | Independent Expert Panel parliamentary watchdog recommended he be suspended for "serious sexual misconduct".[103] | |
| 30 November 2022[104] | Rosie Cooper | West Lancashire | Lab | To take up the role of chair ofMersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.[105] | |
| 12 June 2023[106] | Boris Johnson | Uxbridge and South Ruislip | Con | Resignation after being handed draft results of investigation into allegations he misled Parliament overPartygate.[107] | |
| 29 August 2023[108] | Nadine Dorries | Mid Bedfordshire | Con | Resigned regarding a dispute relating to not receiving a peerage inJohnson's resignation honours. The appointment came 81 days after she announced her resignation "with immediate effect".[109] | |
| 8 January 2024[110] | Chris Skidmore | Kingswood | Con | Resigned over disagreements with the Government's policy onnet zero.[111] | |
| 17 March 2025[112] | Mike Amesbury | Runcorn and Helsby | Lab | Resigned after receiving a suspended prison sentence for assaulting a constituent. | |
General
Specific