A resignation is a grave act; never performed by a right minded man without forethought or with reserve. - Salmon P. Chase
On the 3rd of January, the BBC reported the following:
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness has been given an English aristocratic title following his formal resignation as member of the UK parliament.
He has been appointed Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead by the chancellor, George Osborne.
The appointment is one of two titles traditionally conferred on resigning MPs, as under the constitution, an MP has no power of voluntary resignation.
Sinn Fein has dismissed the tradition as "antiquated and ridiculous".
In this case, Sinn Fein are spot on. I would add that the tradition is also anachronistic, antediluvian and a feudalistic hangover!
Sinn Fein are so committed to their republican ideals that they refuse to take their seats in the UK Parliament due to having to take an oath of allegiance to the monarch; although cynics are always happy to point out that they have no similar qualms about taking their pay-cheques!
Even for non-republicans, the inability to resign outright from ‘the mother of all parliaments’ seems a curious anomaly: in order for a Member of Parliament to resign in the UK, they must go through the ‘legal fiction’ of being appointed by the monarch to an ‘office of profit under the crown’. While other offices have been used in the past, Steward and Bailiff of both the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead are those currently alternated in their use for this purpose. These are sinecure appointments, with no duties and only nominal pay.
The Chiltern Hundreds: Denis MacShane is currently Stewarding them.
Certainly there can be no argument that the original reason for introducing the ban on resignation in 1624 still holds any sway: pay was poor at that time as law-making was the preserve of the wealthy and landed, while travel to and from distant constituencies could take several days. Service in Parliament was therefore often resented rather than exulted and so it was made mandatory for MPs to finish their terms.
The recent Reform of the House of Lords Bill was withdrawn, but it contained an interesting passage describing how elected Lords would be able to resign simply and quickly:
(1) A person who is a member of the House of Lords other than a named Lord Spiritual may at any time resign from being a member by notifying the Clerk of the Parliaments.
(2) The notice of resignation must be signed by the person and two witnesses.
(3) On receipt of the notice, the Clerk of the Parliaments must do the following as soon as reasonably practicable:
(a) sign a certificate of receipt, and
(b) send a copy of the certificate to the person and the Clerk of the Crown.
(4) The person ceases to be a member of the House of Lords on signature of the certificate.
It is surely the case that if an MP wishes, but is unable to resign, then like with any other job, they will go through the motions, essentially ‘seeing out’ their terms: the UK, especially in the midst of a global economic downturn, does not need underperforming MPs.
Many observers, particularly on the right, point out that the practice of ‘taking the Chiltern Hundreds’ has no practical downside, but provides a continuity and sense of tradition going back centuries. These traditionalists feel that these sort of constitutional quirks contribute to the social fabric.
Actually, it is these kinds of nonsense procedures which contribute to the lack of respect for the institution of Parliament among the wider public. In a June 2012 YouGov report, when asked “Putting aside your own party preferences and your views on the current government, do you think that, in general, the Westminster Parliament in recent years has done a good job or a bad job in understanding the daily lives of people like you?”, 64% of respondents said ‘a bad job’ to only 12% saying ‘a good job’. Clearly there is a general lack of trust and understanding and this is only exacerbated by the opaque procedures of Parliament.
While the prospect of Lords reform has abated for this Parliament, and with Nick Clegg desperate for a success on constitutional reform, perhaps a joint ‘recall and resignation of MPs’ Bill could garner enough all-party support to pass through the Houses as a slightly less controversial stopgap reform?
