The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead functions as a procedural device to allow a member of Parliament (MP) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As members of the House of Commons are forbidden from formally resigning, a legal fiction is used to circumvent this prohibition: appointment to an "office of profit under The Crown" disqualifies an individual from sitting as an MP. As such, several such positions are maintained to allow MPs to resign.[1] Currently, the offices of Steward of the Manor of Northstead and Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds are used, and are specifically designated for this purpose under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975; several other offices have also been used historically.[1] The appointment is traditionally made by the chancellor of the Exchequer. The position was reworked in 1861 by William Ewart Gladstone, who was worried about the honour conferred by appointment to people such as Edwin James, who had fled to the United States over £100,000 in debt. As such, the letter by the chancellor was rewritten to omit any references to honour.
The office was first used in this way on 20 March 1844 to allow Sir George Henry Rose, MP for Christchurch, to resign his seat. Appointees to the offices of Steward of the Manor of Northstead and Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds are alternated so that two MPs can resign at once (as happened on 23 January 2017 when Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed resigned). However, every new appointment revokes the previous one, so there is no difficulty in situations in which more than two resign, such as the 1985 walkout of Ulster Unionist MPs when several separate appointments were made on a single day.[1] If a resigning MP wishes to contest the following by-election, as Douglas Carswell did in 2014, they need to resign the stewardship to avoid further disqualification.[2]
The incumbent steward of the Manor of Northstead is Scott Benton, formerly the Independent (elected Conservative) MP for Blackpool South.[3]
Resigned to contest Scarborough, which was vacated via the Chiltern Hundreds the previous day, in anticipation of his election being declared void on petition (as happened in August 1880)
"...circumstances have arisen that render it impossible for me any longer to retain the trust which you have generously reposed in me..."[52][full citation needed]
To allow Tony Benn, who won the previous election but was disqualified due to inheriting an unwanted peerage, to regain his seat after being allowed to disclaim the peerage[156]
Due to concerns that remaining a backbench MP following his resignation as Prime Minister on 13 July 2016 would be "a big distraction and a big diversion" from the work of the new government[195]
↑ Urban, Sylvanus (September 1854). "Obituary: Right Hon. Henry Tufnell". The Gentleman's Magazine. XLII. F. Jefferies: 299. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
↑ Sainty, J.C. (1975). "Secretaries 1660–1870". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660–1870. pp.34–37. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
↑ Walford, Edward, ed. (1857). Hardwicke's Annual biography. London: Robert Hardwicke. p.59. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
↑ "The Election For The County Of Middlesex". The Times, 4 September 1857: 9. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 September 2013.[full citation needed]
↑ "Election Intelligence". The Times, 3 October 1857: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 September 2013.[full citation needed]
↑ "Suffolk (East)". The Times, 18 July 1866: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 September 2013.[full citation needed]
↑ "Notice". The Times, 21 July 1866: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 September 2013.[full citation needed]
↑ Great Britain, Parliament House of Lords (1880). Accounts and Papers. Vol.11. p.469. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
↑ "Election For Weymouth". The Times. No.25836. London. 13 June 1867. p.6.
↑ Faith, Nicholas. The world the railways made. The Bodley Head, London, 1990 ISBN0-370-31299-6 p. 106.
↑ Great Britain, Parliament House of Lords (1880). Accounts and Papers. Vol.11. p.419. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
↑ Fitzpatrick, William J (1900). History of the Dublin Catholic Cemeteries. the Offices, 4 Rutland Square. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
↑ Gardiner, L. R. (1981). "Fuller, Sir John Michael (1864–1915)". Australian Dictionary of Biography Online: Fuller, Sir John Michael Fleetwood. Melbourne University Press. Archived from the original on 28 July 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
1 2 "Four More By-Elections". The Times, 20 June 1911: 15. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 September 2013.
↑ "News in Brief". The Times, 7 April 1911: 14. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 September 2013.
↑ "The By-Elections". The Times, 18 July 1911: 7. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 September 2013.
↑ "By-Election at Holmfirth". The Times, 5 June 1912: 7. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 24 August 2014.
↑ "The Vacancy At Taunton". The Times, 25 October 1912: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 September 2013.
↑ "Court Circular". The Times, 7 January 1913: 9. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 September 2013.
↑ "Political Notes". The Times, 2 May 1913: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 September 2013.
↑ "A By-Election At Leicester". The Times, 12 June 1913: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 September 2013.
↑ Poynter, J. R. (1986). "Munro Ferguson, Sir Ronald Craufurd (1860–1934)". Australian Dictionary of National Biography: Munro Ferguson, Sir Ronald Craufurd. Melbourne University Press. Archived from the original on 27 July 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
↑ "News in Brief". The Times, 30 June 1914: 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 September 2013.
↑ "Hereford Vacancy – Resignation of Coalition Unionist". Western Daily Press. 24 December 1920. p.5.
↑ Cahill, Peter (1990). "Wilson, Sir Leslie Orme (1876–1955)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: Wilson, Sir Leslie Orme. Melbourne University Press. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
↑ "Western Australia – New Governor Appointed". The Times. No.43677. London. 13 June 1924. p.10.
↑ O'Neill, Sally (1981). "Gaunt, Sir Guy Reginald Archer (1869–1953)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: Gaunt, Sir Guy Reginald Archer. Melbourne University Press. Archived from the original on 16 August 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
↑ "Welsh MP resigns". The Sunday Times. 9 January 2000. p.28.
↑ Murray Ritchie; Robbie Dinwoodie (24 November 2000). "Double victory for Labour". The Herald. p.1. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
↑ Walker, Peter (12 June 2023). "Boris Johnson formally steps down as MP". The Guardian. Johnson has accepted the post of crown steward and bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds
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