The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds functions as a procedural device by which a member of Parliament (MP) may resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The House of Commons, by its own resolution, does not allow its members to resign. An MP who wishes to leave the House therefore effects their resignation by requesting and being appointed to the stewardship, which the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 designates as an office disqualifying its holder from membership of the House; the act designates the office of Steward of the Manor of Northstead in the same way. The chancellor of the exchequer traditionally makes the appointment. The MP wishing to resign is directly appointed to rather than offered the office, and hence becomes disqualified and vacates the Commons seat.
The use of the stewardship for this purpose began as a legal fiction: historically, appointment to an "office of profit under the Crown" disqualified an individual from sitting as an MP, and several such offices were used to allow MPs to resign before the disqualification was placed on its present statutory footing. 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 while over £100,000 in debt; the standard appointment letter by the chancellor was rewritten to omit any references to honour.
The office was first used in this way on 9 February 1850 to allow Sir George Smyth, MP for Colchester, 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. If a resigning MP wishes to contest the following by-election, as Douglas Carswell did in 2014, they must resign the stewardship to avoid further disqualification.
The steward of the Chiltern Hundreds is Keir Starmer, formerly the MP for Holborn and St Pancras and, until July 2026, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Key to party abbreviations PartyAbbreviationAll-for-Ireland LeagueAFILCoalition ConservativeCo ConCoalition LiberalCo LibConservative PartyConDemocratic Unionist PartyDUPEnglish National PartyEng NatHome Rule LeagueHRLIndependentIndIrish National FederationINFIrish Parliamentary PartyIPPUnspecified Irish Nationalist (pre-1922) partyNatLabour PartyLabLabour and Co-operative PartyLab Co-opLiberal Party (pre-1988)LibLiberal DemocratsLib DemLiberal Unionist PartyLUNational LabourN LabNational Liberal PartyN LibSinn FéinSFScottish National PartySNPUnionist PartyUPUlster Popular Unionist PartyUPUPUlster Unionist PartyUUWhigWhig
Up to 1849
1850 to 1899
DateMemberConstituencyPartyReason for resignationColchesterCon"Age and infirmity" (Had previously been appointed to the Stewardship in 1829)CanterburyLibRaised to the peerage as Baron LondesboroughCounty SligoConLymingtonWhigSucceeded his brother as Earl of AlbemarleCity of ChesterLibTo become Chief Justice of the Common PleasDungannonConIll healthLambethLibGlamorganshireConSucceeded his father as Earl of Dunraven and Mount-EarlDungannonConHarwichLibRaised to the peerage as Baron BroughtonDungarvanLibRetired due to ill health and as he had been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in November 1850.EnniskillenConCork CityRATo become Commissioner of InsolvencyIsle of WightLibAfter converting to Catholicism, "out of a delicate instinct of honour towards those who had elected him while he was a member of the Anglican Church — believing that he had no right to suppose them to be indifferent to the change he had made.""The Last Days of Sir John Simeon", The Month: A Magazine and Review new series, vol. II (XIII), July to December 1870, pp. 481–484.ArundelLibTo protest the passage of the Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1851Limerick CityRATo allow the Earl of Surrey to take his placeDownpatrickConEast RetfordConTo become Fourth Naval LordKinsaleLibTo become Deputy Secretary at WarEast KentConColeraineConWorcesterConNorth DerbyshireWhigSouth StaffordshireLibAppointed to command a Division in BengalDungarvanLibBecame Mayor of CorkWest SussexConHastingsConIll health; died four days laterAberdeenshireConMaryleboneLibCounty CorkLibRenfrewshireConEveshamLibRochesterConRutlandWhigNew RossLibCheltenhamLibDorchesterConNewportWhigEast SussexConCity of LondonLibBeing Jewish, unable to swear his oath of allegiance on a Bible that contained the New Testament. A bill that would allow him to swear on the Old Testament was defeated.ThetfordConElgin BurghsLibBanburyWhigHytheWhigHarwichLibTauntonLibRaised to the peerage as Baron TauntonBerwick-upon-TweedConAccusations of improper financial deals with railway companiesWorcesterLibBelfastConLudlowConBradfordLibRetired due to ill health.BanffshireLibSelkirkshireConLincolnLibPrestonConKidderminsterLibCambridgeshireConPlymouth DevonportLibArmaghConCounty DublinConNew RossConWinchesterConTipperaryLibPlymouth DevonportLibTewkesburyConSandwichWhigAberdeenshireConNorth ShropshireConAndoverConEast SuffolkConSutherlandLibDownpatrickConThetfordConArgyllshireLibGranthamConStirling BurghsLibRadnorLibSalisburyLibSouthwarkLibBridgnorthConMaidstoneLibNottinghamConEast DevonConRiponLibCounty GalwayLibHerefordLibMonmouthshireConWest CheshireConEast GloucestershireConWexfordLib28 June 1872Southern West Riding of YorkshireLibRetired due to ill healthLisburnConMid CheshireConGloucesterLibCounty WaterfordLibDundeeLibStoke-upon-TrentLibTipperaryNatBedfordshireLibHartlepoolLibLeominsterConWest AberdeenshireLibBirminghamLibWest WorcestershireConEast KentConCarmarthenConWiltonLibHalifaxLibSouth ShropshireConGreenockLibOxfordshireConHerefordConTamworthConCarmarthenLibArgyllshireLibNewcastle-under-LymeConBristolLibCanterburyConBarnstapleLibKidderminsterLibDerbyLibScarboroughLibEdinburghLibSunderlandLibMeathHRLWest SomersetConHalifaxLibEdinburghLibPrestonConWestmeathHRLTipperaryIPPDerbyLibWexfordIPPMeathNatRutlandConPaisleyLibNorthamptonConWest NorfolkConBrightonLibMid KentConMid SurreyConSouth DevonConCounty WaterfordHRLScarboroughLibMid SomersetConFlintshireLibGalway BoroughNatNorth East CorkIPPSt AustellLibHornseyConNorth HampshireConForest of DeanLibSouth KerryIPPDundeeLibDoncasterLibChichesterLibLimerick CityLibSouthamptonConDewsburyLibBurnleyLibKenningtonConRochesterConMarylebone EastConStoke-upon-TrentLibEast DownConWindsorConNorth DonegalIPPWisbechConBurnleyLibNorth East CorkINFSouth East CorkINFHerefordLibBrightonConMid LanarkshireLibSheffield AttercliffeLibLeicesterLibSouth KilkennyINFMid NorfolkLibCroydonConCork CityINFWest WaterfordINFIn the House of Commons Information Office publication Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850 , Thomas Sexton is recorded as having taken the Chiltern Hundreds on 19 February 1895. However, this appears to be an error. The London Gazette lists him as having been returned for North Kerry at the general election in August 1895 (see London Gazette, Issue 26651 published on 9 August 1895 , and the writ for the by-election was moved in April 1896 (see House of Commons Debates 14 April 1896 vol 39 c882 ). The date of his resignation is therefore listed here as 19 February 1896, rather than 1895.North KerryINFAberdeen NorthLibForfarLibRomfordConGlasgow BridgetonLibChertseyConCrickladeLUSouth NorfolkLUGravesendConGreat GrimsbyLibBirmingham NorthLUEllandLibOsgoldcrossLibSt Pancras EastConExeterCon
1900 to 1949