List of stewards of the Chiltern Hundreds

Appointment to the position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds (or the Three Hundreds of Chiltern) is a procedural device to allow members of Parliament (MPs) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Since MPs are technically unable to resign their seats in the House of Commons, they must resort to a legal fiction. An appointment to an "office of profit under The 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 the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead are in present use.<ref name="HCIO">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Resignation

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also

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, when Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn was deemed to have vacated his Commons seat after becoming Steward of the Lordship and Manor of Bromfield and Yale.<ref name="HCIO"/> The practice of leaving the house when appointed as a minister of crown would result in a ministerial by-election until the early 20th century when this requirement was removed for most substantive offices.Template:Citation needed

The Chiltern Hundreds last needed a Crown Steward in the 18th century. When John Pitt wished to vacate his seat for Wareham in order to stand for Dorchester, the Crown Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds was available for this purpose. Pitt was appointed Crown Steward on 25 January 1751.<ref name="HCIO"/>

A number of other offices were subsequently used for resignation, but only the Chiltern Hundreds and the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead are still in use.<ref name="HCIO"/> 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.<ref name="HCIO" /> The Parliamentary Information Office has produced a list of those appointed to the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds since 1850.<ref name="gen1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Key

Party	Abbreviation
All-for-Ireland League	AFIL
Coalition Conservative	Co Con
Coalition Liberal	Co Lib
Conservative Party	Con
Democratic Unionist Party	DUP
Home Rule League	HRL
Independent	Ind
Irish National Federation	INF
Irish Parliamentary Party	IPP
Unspecified Irish Nationalist (pre-1922) party	Nat
Labour Party	Lab
Liberal Party (pre-1988)	Lib
Liberal Democrats	Lib Dem
Liberal Unionist Party	LU
National Labour	N Lab
National Liberal Party	N Lib
Ulster Democratic Unionist Party	UDUP
Ulster Unionist Party	UU
Unionist Party	UP
Whig	Whig

1950 to 1999

Date	Member<ref name="ppd"/>	Constituency	Party		Reason for resignation
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Bristol South East	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Medical advice<ref>"Sir Stafford Cripps Resigns", The Times, 20 October 1950, p. 4.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Londonderry	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Appointed Agent of the Government of Northern Ireland in London
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Westhoughton	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Ill health<ref>"M.P. not to seek re-election", The Times, 10 April 1951, p. 7.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	North Antrim	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Retirement<ref>Template:"'Father' of Commons to Retire", The Times, 5 July 1952, p. 6.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Barnsley	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Personal and domestic reasons<ref>"Two M.P.s to Resign", The Times, 13 January 1953, p. 3.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Isle of Thanet	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Ill health<ref>"Mr. Edward Carson", The Times, 18 February 1953, p. 4.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Birmingham Edgbaston	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Raised to the peerage as Baron Bennett of Edgbaston<ref>"Two by-elections", The Times, 6 June 1953, p. 4.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Paddington North	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Convicted of importuning for immoral purposes<ref>"Mr. W. J. Field, M.P., To Resign", The Times, 14 October 1953, p. 5."</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Haltemprice	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Raised to the peerage as Baron Coleraine<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Arundel and Shoreham	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Ill health<ref>"Conservative M.P.s' Resignations", The Times, 17 February 1954, p. 8.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Sutton and Cheam	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Ill health<ref>"Chiltern Hundreds for Sir Sidney Marshall", The Times, 6 October 1954, p. 6.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Inverness	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Ill health; to help economic development of the Highlands through private enterprise<ref>"M.P. for Inverness to Resign", The Times, 3 December 1954, p. 8.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Tonbridge	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Ill health<ref>"Conservative M.P. To Resign", The Times, 28 April 1956, p. 6.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Wednesbury	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Requested to resign by his Constituency Labour Party after supporting the Government over the Suez Crisis
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Edinburgh South	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Ill health<ref>"Sir William Darling Resigns Seat", The Times, 4 May 1957, p 4.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Liverpool Garston	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	To take up a business appointment in Southern Rhodesia<ref>"Sir Victor Raikes Resigns Seat", The Times, 9 November 1957, p. 3.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Ealing South	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	To become editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Oswestry	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Appointed British Ambassador to the United States<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Middlesbrough East	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Appointed Director of the Institute of Labour Studies at the International Labour Office<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Stockton-on-Tees	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Appointed Director of the North East Development Council<ref>"Chiltern Hundreds for Mr. Chetwynd", The Times, 23 January 1962, p. 10.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Stratford-on-Avon	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Confessed to misleading the House (the Profumo affair)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Winchester	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Appointed Secretary General of the Council of Europe<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Hove	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Medical advice
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Kensington South	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Ill health<ref>"Conservative MP to resign", The Times, 30 September 1967, p. 1.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Oldham West	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Ill health<ref>"Ill-health causes MP to resign", The Times, 16 January 1968, p. 1.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Brighton Pavilion	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Ill health
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Swindon	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Ill health<ref>"Swindon MP resigns his seat", The Times, 8 March 1969, p. 1.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Southampton Itchen	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Speaker	Retiring Speaker of the House of Commons
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Southwark	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Ind	Had left the Labour Party; decided it would be improper to remain as an independent having been elected as Labour<ref>"Mr Gunter resigning: 'Improper to stayTemplate:'", The Times, 4 March 1972, p. 1</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Dundee East	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Appointed a European Commissioner
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Berwick-upon-Tweed	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Prostitution scandal
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Walsall North	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Eng Nat	Convicted on 18 counts of theft and fraud, sentenced to seven years' imprisonment
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Cambridge	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Appointed Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality<ref>David Leigh, "Ex-Tory junior minister to head race body", The Times, 30 July 1976, p. 4.</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Birmingham Stechford	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Appointed President of the European Commission
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Birmingham Ladywood	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	In order to become a broadcast journalist on Weekend World
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Epsom and Ewell	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Retiring from the Commons; was made a life peer<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	South West Hertfordshire	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Medical adviceTemplate:Citation needed
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Bermondsey	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Ind	Left the Labour Party in opposition to the selection of his successor; to become vice-chairman of the London Docklands Development Corporation<ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Lagan Valley	style="background:Template:Party color"|	UUP	Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement<ref name="bbc1">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	East Antrim	style="background:Template:Party color"|	UUP	Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement<ref name="bbc1"/>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Armagh	style="background:Template:Party color"|	UUP	Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement<ref name="bbc1"/>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Londonderry	style="background:Template:Party color"|	UUP	Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement<ref name="bbc1"/>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Strangford	style="background:Template:Party color"|	UUP	Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement<ref name="bbc1"/>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	North Down	style="background:Template:Party color"|	UPUP	Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement<ref name="bbc1"/>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Newry and Armagh	style="background:Template:Party color"|	UUP	Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement<ref name="bbc1"/>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Mid Ulster	style="background:Template:Party color"|	DUP	Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement<ref name="bbc1"/>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Newcastle-under-Lyme	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Elected General Secretary of the National Communications Union<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Glasgow Govan	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Appointed a European Commissioner<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Vauxhall	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	In order to take up a lectureship at the European University Institute
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Islwyn	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Appointed a European Commissioner<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Eddisbury	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Appointed British High Commissioner to Australia<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Since 2000

Date	Member<ref name="ppd"/>	Constituency	Party		Reason for resignation
Template:Dts	Template:Nowrap	West Bromwich West	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Speaker	Retiring as Speaker of the House of Commons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Template:Nowrap	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Appointed Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Sedgefield	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Appointed Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Template:Nowrap	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Seeking re-election in protest to the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008.<ref name="davis">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts<ref name="ian_gibson">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Norwich North	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Alleged misuse of allowances led to his being ruled ineligible for selection as a Labour candidate by an NEC panel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts<ref name="iris_robinson">Template:Cite press release</ref>	Template:Sortname	Strangford	style="background:Template:Party color"|	DUP	Ill health; followed allegations about her personal life.<ref name="BBC1">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Barnsley Central	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Pleaded guilty to false accounting in relation to claims for parliamentary expenses.<ref name="eric_illsley">Template:Cite press release</ref>
Template:Dts<ref name="marsha singh">Template:Cite press release</ref>	Template:Sortname	Bradford West	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Ill health.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>	Template:Sortname	Cardiff South and Penarth	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	To contest the Police and Crime Commissioner election for South Wales Police Force Area.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Rotherham	style="background:Template:Party color"|	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.
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Eastleigh	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lib Dem	Pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.
Template:Dts<ref name="hmtreasury.presscentre.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Newark	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Ind	Elected as Conservative, but had quit the whip at the commencement of investigations on 31 May 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.
Template:Dts<ref name="Reckless move">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Rochester and Strood	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	To seek re-election as a UKIP candidate.
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Tooting	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Elected as Mayor of London.
Template:Dts<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Sortname	Richmond Park	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Seeking re-election having pledged to do so should the Government endorse a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Stoke-on-Trent Central	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	To direct the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	West Tyrone	style="background:Template:Party color"|	SF	Became embroiled in a controversy over the Kingsmill massacre on social media.
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Bassetlaw	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Nomination to House of Lords announced in 2019 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours. No by-election held due to the 2019 general election being called.
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Hartlepool	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Pending sexual harassment tribunal.
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Batley and Spen	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab Co-op	Election as Mayor of West Yorkshire.
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Wakefield	style="background:Template:Party color"|	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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	City of Chester	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Independent Expert Panel parliamentary watchdog recommended he be suspended for "serious sexual misconduct".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>	Template:Sortname	West Lancashire	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	To take up the role of chair of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Dts<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Sortname	Uxbridge and South Ruislip	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Resignation after being handed draft results of investigation into allegations he misled Parliament over Partygate.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Dts<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>	Template:Sortname	Mid Bedfordshire	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Resigned regarding a dispute relating to not receiving a peerage in Johnson's resignation honours. The appointment came 81 days after she announced her resignation "with immediate effect".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Dts<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>	Template:Sortname	Kingswood	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Con	Resigned over disagreements with the Government's policy on net zero.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Dts<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>	Template:Sortname	Runcorn and Helsby	style="background:Template:Party color"|	Lab	Resigned after receiving a suspended prison sentence for assaulting a constituent.

See also

Office still in use

• List of stewards of the Manor of Northstead

Offices no longer in use

• List of Stewards of the Manor of East Hendred
• List of Stewards of the Manor of Hempholme
• List of Stewards of the Manor of Old Shoreham
• List of Stewards of the Manor of Poynings

References

General

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

Specific Template:Reflist