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. 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.
The incumbent steward of the Manor of Northstead is Stephen Flynn, formerly the SNP MP for Aberdeen South and current cabinet secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport in Scotland.
Key to party abbreviations
{|
|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
!Party
!colspan="2"|Abbreviation
|-
||All-for-Ireland League
|style="background:"| || AFIL
|-
|Coalition Conservative
|style="background:"| || Co Con
|-
|Coalition Liberal
|style="background:"| || Co Lib
|-
|Conservative Party
|style="background:"| || Con
|-
|Home Rule League
|style="background:"| || HRL
|-
|Independent
|style="background:"| || Ind
|-
|Irish National Federation
|style="background:"| || INF
|}
|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
!Party
!colspan="2"|Abbreviation
|-
|Irish Parliamentary Party
|style="background:"| || IPP
|-
|Unspecified Irish Nationalist (pre-1922) party
|style="background:"| || Nat
|-
|Irish Unionist Alliance
|style="background:"| || IUA
|-
|Labour Party (UK)
|style="background:"| || Lab
|-
|Liberal Party (pre-1988)
|style="background:"| || Lib
|-
|Liberal Nationals
|style="background:"| || L Nat
|-
|Liberal Unionist Party
|style="background:"| || LU
|}
|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
!Party
!colspan="2"|Abbreviation
|-
|National Labour
|style="background:"| || N Lab
|-
|Plaid Cymru
|style="background:"| || PC
|-
|Scottish National Party
|style="background:"| || SNP
|-
|Sinn Féin
|style="background:"| || SF
|-
|Democratic Unionist Party
|style="background:"| || DUP
|-
|Ulster Unionist Party
|style="background:"| || UUP
|-
|Unionist Party
|style="background:"| || UP
|-
|Whig
|style="background:"| || Whig
|}
|}
Up to 1899
right|thumb|[[William Ewart Gladstone, who reformed the process to omit references to the position being one of honour in 1861]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Date
!Member
!Constituency
!colspan=2|Party
!class="unsortable"| Reason for resignation
!class="unsortable"|
|-
| || || Christchurch || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Cork City || style="background:"|
|Whig || ||
|-
| || || East Suffolk || style="background:"|
|Con || In anticipation of being raised to the peerage as Baron Hartismere||
|-
| || || Lisburn || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed secretary to the Board of Trade||
|-
| || || Morpeth || style="background:"|
|Whig || ||
|-
| || || Stamford || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Oxford University || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Ceredigion || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Plymouth Devonport || style="background:"|
|Whig || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Beverley || style="background:"|
|Whig || Found to have been using his position as secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for insider trading||
|-
| || || Gloucester || style="background:"|
|Whig || Resigned to accept a contract for supplying huts to the army in the Crimea||
|-
| || || Bath || style="background:"|
|Whig || Appointed Second Secretary to the Admiralty||
|-
| || || Newcastle-upon-Tyne || style="background:"|
|Whig || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Wigtownshire || style="background:"|
|Whig || ||
|-
| || || Lichfield || style="background:"|
|Whig || ||
|-
| || || Hereford || style="background:"|
|Whig ||<!-- probably ill-health --> ||
|-
| || || Glasgow || style="background:"|
|Whig || <!-- probably ill-health --> ||
|-
| || || North Cheshire || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Tavistock || style="background:"|
|Whig || To allow him to stand for the vacant Middlesex parliamentary seat||
|-
| || || East Kent || style="background:"|
|Whig || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Buckinghamshire || style="background:"|
|Whig || In anticipation of being raised to the peerage as Baron Chesham||
|-
| || || Dublin University || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Assistant Secretary to the Treasury||
|-
| || || Greenwich || style="background:"|
|Whig || Bankruptcy||
|-
| || || Marylebone || style="background:"|
|Whig ||||
|-
| || || Midhurst || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed a Master in Lunacy under the Lunacy Act 1845||
|-
| || || Bodmin || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Liskeard || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Sligo Borough || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Marylebone || style="background:"|
|Lib || Resigned and fled to the United States with massive debts||
|-
| || || Longford || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || City of London || style="background:"|
|Lib || In anticipation of being raised to the peerage as Earl Russell||
|-
| || || Canterbury || style="background:"|
|Con || Following an interview with his leading supporters||
|-
| || || Oldham || style="background:"|
|Lib || Ill-health||
|-
| || || West Somerset || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Lisburn || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Tralee || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Pontefract || style="background:"|
|Lib || In anticipation of being raised to the peerage as Baron Houghton||
|-
| || || Brighton || style="background:"|
|Lib || Ill-health ||
|-
| || || Lancaster || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || North Wiltshire || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Ripon || style="background:"|
|Lib || Retired following a hunting accident||
|-
| || || Wigan || style="background:"|
|Con || Due to prolonged service in Canada in the British Army||
|-
| || || Stamford || style="background:"|
|Con || Resigned to contest North Devon||
|-
| || || Eye || style="background:"|
|Con || To allow him to stand for election to one of the East Suffolk parliamentary seats; he resigned again in 1867 becoming a Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds ||
|-
| || || Colchester ||style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Boston || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Weymouth and Melcombe Regis || style="background:"|
|Lib || Ill-health ||
|-
| || || Stroud || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Stoke-on-Trent || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Launceston || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Leominster || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Bristol || style="background:"|
|Lib ||Gave up his seat after being declared bankrupt; had previously resigned from Norwich in 1854 by becoming Steward of Hempholme ||
|-
| || || Caithness || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Dublin University || style="background:"|
|Con ||||
|-
| || || Roxburghshire || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || City of York || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Wick Burghs || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Chatham || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Commander-in-Chief of HMNB Portsmouth||
|-
| || || Berkshire || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Huntingdon || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Leeds || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Launceston || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Leith Burghs || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Canterbury || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Mid Somerset || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || West Kent || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Haddington Burghs || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Boston || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Maldon || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || East Somerset || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Kilkenny City || style="background:"|
|HRL || ||
|-
| || || Sandwich || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || County Louth || style="background:"|
|HRL || ||
|-
| || || Bandon || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || City of Chester || style="background:"|
|Lib || 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)||
|-
| || || New Ross || style="background:"|
|HRL || ||
|-
| || || Cambridgeshire || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Westminster || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Haddington Burghs || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Ennis || style="background:"|
|HRL || ||
|-
| || || Newcastle-upon-Tyne || style="background:"|
|Lib || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Chipping Wycombe || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Peterborough || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Hastings || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || East Essex || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || West Somerset || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Cork City || style="background:"|
|Nat || To concentrate on business activities||
|-
| || || South Lincolnshire || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || South Hampshire || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Leicester || style="background:"|
|Lib || Ill-health||
|-
| || || Ross and Cromarty || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || New Radnor || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Greenock || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Glasgow || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Battersea || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Burton || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || St. George's, Hanover Square || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Coventry || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Brixton || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Glasgow Bridgeton || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Southwark West || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Edinburgh West || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Deptford || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Merthyr Tydvil || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Mid Lanarkshire || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || South Sligo || style="background:"|
|Nat || ||
|-
| || || Liverpool West Derby || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Stockton || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Barnsley || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || South East Cork || style="background:"|
|IPP || Retirement from politics||
|-
| || || West Fife || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Mid Tipperary || style="background:"|
|IPP || ||
|-
| || || Ayr Burghs || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || West Donegal || style="background:"|
|IPP || ||
|-
| || || Barrow-in-Furness || style="background:"|
|Lib || Resigned in protest of a scheme that gave compensation to public licence holders||
|-
| || || North Wexford || style="background:"|
|IPP || ||
|-
| || || Great Grimsby || style="background:"|
|Lib || Pressure of business interests; he died a few months later in July 1893||
|-
| || || Linlithgowshire || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || West Mayo ||style="background:"|
|INF || ||
|-
| || || South Wexford || style="background:"|
|INF || ||
|-
| || || Montgomeryshire || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Hackney South || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Chichester || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Leicester || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Colchester || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || East Wicklow || style="background:"|
|IPP || ||
|-
| || || Inverness-shire || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || South Mayo || style="background:"|
|INF || ||
|-
| || || Montrose Burghs || style="background:"|
|Lib || Resigned so that John Morley could be elected||
|-
| || || Dublin College Green || style="background:"|
|IPP || Could no longer attend Parliament regularly due to other commitments||
|-
| || || Wick Burghs || style="background:"|
|LU || Ill-health; he died on 9 July 1896 aged 80||
|-
| || || Salisbury || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Halifax || style="background:"|
|Lib || ||
|-
| || || Maidstone || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Newark || style="background:"|
|Con ||Disagreement with party policy||
|-
| || || West Down || style="background:"|
|IUA || ||
|-
| || || Southport || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Londonderry City || style="background:"|
|IPP || ||
|-
| || || Rotherham || style="background:"|
|Lib || Ill-health||
|-
| || || North Antrim || style="background:"|
|IUA || ||
|-
| || || Hythe || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Oldham || style="background:"|
|Con || ||
|-
| || || Bow and Bromley || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health||
|-
| || || South Mayo || style="background:"|
|INF || Resigned as he opposed the government's South Africa policy ||
|}
1900 to 1949
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Date!!Member!!Constituency!!colspan=2|Party!!class="unsortable"|Reason for resignation
|-
| || || Rossendale || style="background:"|
|Lib || "... circumstances have arisen that render it impossible for me any longer to retain the trust which you have generously reposed in me ..."
|-
| || || Plymouth || style="background:"|
|Con || Requested to resign by his constituents in a disagreement over his views expressed
|-
| || || Portsmouth || style="background:"|
|Lib || Following a judgement against him in the Law Courts
|-
| || || Wokingham || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Dewsbury || style="background:"|
|Lib || To concentrate on business interests
|-
| || || North Kilkenny || style="background:"|
|IPP ||
|-
| || || West Donegal || style="background:"|
|IPP ||
|-
| || || Bury || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || Cleveland || style="background:"|
|Lib || Ill-health
|-
| || || East Perthshire || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Woolwich || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Commander of the Channel Fleet
|-
| || || South Kildare || style="background:"|
|IPP ||
|-
| || || Rossendale || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Harborough || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Sowerby || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Reading || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Appleby || style="background:"|
|Lib || Change of his political opinions different from the leadership of the Liberal Party
|-
| || || City of London || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Eye || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || City of London || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Galway City || style="background:"|
|IPP || In order to travel to Canada
|-
| || || Aberdeen South || style="background:"|
|Lib || Appointed Ambassador to the United States
|-
| || || Wimbledon || style="background:"|
|Con || To concentrate on business interests
|-
| || || Hornsey || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || North Monaghan || style="background:"|
|IPP ||
|-
| || || Colne Valley || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || West Down || style="background:"|
|IUA ||
|-
| || || North Leitrim || style="background:"|
|IPP ||
|-
| || || West Down || style="background:"|
|IUA ||
|-
| || || Montrose Burghs || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Pudsey || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || South East Essex || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || Taunton || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill health.
|-
| || || Stratford-on-Avon || style="background:"|
|Lib || To seek the decision of his constituents on the question of the adoption of military training.
|-
| || || Edinburgh West || style="background:"|
|LU ||
|-
| || || Ilkeston || style="background:"|
|Lib || In order to allow J. E. B. Seely to return to Parliament
|-
| || || Westbury || style="background:"|
|Lib || Appointed Governor of Victoria
|-
| || || Bootle || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Barnstaple || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || ||Glasgow Tradeston || style="background:"|
|Lib || On being created 1st Baron Rowallan
|-
| || || St Augustine's || style="background:"|
|Con ||On being created Viscount Chilston
|-
| || || Bethnal Green South West || style="background:"|
|Lib ||On appointment as a stipendiary magistrate
|-
| || || Hereford || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Epsom || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Nottingham East || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Holmfirth || style="background:"|
|Lib || Ill health.
|-
| || || Taunton || style="background:"|
|Con || On becoming the 2nd Viscount Peel on the death of his father
|-
| || || Londonderry City || style="background:"|
|IUA || On becoming the 3rd Duke of Abercorn on the death of his father
|-
| || || Altrincham || style="background:"|
|Con ||Ill health.
|-
| || || Leicester || style="background:"|
|Lib ||On being divorced
|-
| || || Leith Burghs || style="background:"|
|Lib || Appointed Governor-General of Australia
|-
| || || Brighton || style="background:"|
|Con ||Ill-health
|-
| || || Liverpool Kirkdale || style="background:"|
|Con || Military commitments in the 1st West Lancs. Brigade Royal Field Artillery
|-
| || || Appleby || style="background:"|
|Con ||On appointment as Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature in Calcutta.
|-
| || || Newington West || style="background:"|
|Lib ||On becoming the 1st Baron Rathcreedan.
|-
| || || Portsmouth || style="background:"|
|Con || On becoming the 1st Baron Beresford.
|-
| || || Droitwich || style="background:"|
|LU ||
|-
| || || Cockermouth || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Bolton || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Hyde || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Berwick-upon-Tweed || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Abingdon || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed military secretary to the Duke of Devonshire, who was to become Governor General of Canada in November 1916
|-
| || || North Fermanagh || style="background:"|
|IUA ||Ill-health
|-
| || || Ashton-under-Lyne || style="background:"|
|LU ||
|-
| || || Derby || style="background:"|
|Lib ||On becoming the 1st Baron Roe.
|-
| || || Whitechapel || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Tamworth || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Governor of Tasmania
|-
| || || Aberdeen South || style="background:"|
|Lib ||Ill health
|-
| || || Liverpool Abercromby || style="background:"|
|Con ||On becoming Baron Gisborough.
|-
| || || Cambridge || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Prestwich || style="background:"|
|Lib ||On becoming Baron Cawley
|-
| || || Gravesend || style="background:"|
|Con ||Ill-health
|-
| || || Horncastle || style="background:"|
|Co Con || On appointment as Governor of South Australia
|-
| || || Birmingham Moseley || style="background:"|
|Co Con ||
|-
| || || Kirkcaldy || style="background:"|
|Co Lib ||
|-
| || || Basingstoke || style="background:"|
|Co Con || Appointed Ambassador to the United States
|-
| || || Nelson and Colne || style="background:"|
|Lab ||
|-
| || || Ebbw Vale || style="background:"|
|Lab ||
|-
| || || Rhondda, West || style="background:"|
|Lab ||
|-
| || || Hereford || style="background:"|
|Co Con || "owing to the pressing demands of his own business on the Stock Exchange"
|-
| || || Hastings || style="background:"|
|Co Con ||
|-
| || || Penrith and Cockermouth || style="background:"|
|Co Con ||
|-
| || || Heywood and Radcliffe || style="background:"|
|Co Lib ||
|-
| || || Hertford || style="background:"|
|Ind ||
|-
| || || Cambridge || style="background:"|
|Co Con ||
|-
| || || Wandsworth, Clapham || style="background:"|
|Co Con ||
|-
| || || Moray and Nairn || style="background:"|
|Co Lib ||
|-
| || || Darlington || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Willesden, East || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Portsmouth, South || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Governor of Bombay
|-
| || || City of London || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Lewes || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Governor of Western Australia
|-
| || || Eastbourne || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Ripon || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Buckrose || style="background:"|
|Con || Cited as co-respondent in the divorce case between Sir Richard Cruise and his wife
|-
| || || Wallsend || style="background:"|
|Lab ||
|-
| || || Howdenshire || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Chelmsford || style="background:"|
|Con || Sued for divorce by his wife
|-
| || || Edinburgh Leith || style="background:"|
|Lib || Leaving the Liberal Party
|-
| || || Bosworth || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Canterbury || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Holborn || style="background:"|
|Co Con ||
|-
| || || Halifax || style="background:"|
|Lib ||
|-
| || || Tamworth || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Nottingham, Central || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Liverpool, East Toxteth || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Pontypridd || style="background:"|
|Lab || Found to have allowed his wife and daughter to use House of Commons rail travel vouchers
|-
| || || Woolwich, East || style="background:"|
|Lab ||
|-
| || || Stroud || style="background:"|
|Con || To focus on business interests
|-
| || || Dunbartonshire || style="background:"|
|UP || On appointment as Puisne Judge of the High Court of Judicature of Allahabad
|-
| || || St. Marylebone || style="background:"|
|Con || Decided to "retire from the strenuous life of Parliament"; he was aged in his early 70s
|-
| || || Westminster, Abbey || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Harborough || style="background:"|
|Con ||Ill health.
|-
| || || Upton || style="background:"|
|Con ||Ill health.
|-
| || || Cambridge University || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || City of London || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Dunbartonshire || style="background:"|
|UP ||
|-
| || || Wandsworth, Balham and Tooting || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || East Grinstead || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Richmond || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Oxford University || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || York || style="background:"|
|Con || On appointment as Governor of Bombay
|-
| || || Cheltenham || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || Hemel Hempstead || style="background:"|
|Con || Retired following the resignation of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin
|-
| || || Ilford || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill health.
|-
| || || Aylesbury || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire || style="background:"|
|UP ||On appointment as Governor of South Australia
|-
| || || Portsmouth, South || style="background:"|
|Con ||On being created Baron Rotherwick
|-
| || || Ormskirk || style="background:"|
|N Lab ||On reaching the age of 75
|-
| || || Wandsworth, Streatham || style="background:"|
|Con ||On reaching the age of 79
|-
| || || Swansea East || style="background:"|
|Lab ||
|-
| || || West Ham, Silvertown || style="background:"|
|Lab ||Ill health and failing eyesight.
|-
| || || Battersea, North || style="background:"|
|Lab ||Ill health.
|-
| || || Croydon, North || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Montrose Burghs || style="background:"|
|L Nat ||
|-
| || || Rochdale || style="background:"|
|Lab ||Ill health.
|-
| || || Northampton || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Petersfield || style="background:"|
|Con || On appointment as Governor of Burma.
|-
| || || Dorset, Western || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Scarborough and Whitby || style="background:"|
|Con ||On being arrested and sent for court-martial
|-
| || || Edinburgh Central || style="background:"|
|Con ||
|-
| || || Rugby || style="background:"|
|Con || On being created Viscount Margesson
|-
| || || Spennymoor || style="background:"|
|Lab || Ill-health
|-
| || || Ashford || style="background:"|
|Con || On appointment as Chief Justice of India
|-
| || || Burton || style="background:"|
|Con || On being created Baron Gretton
|-
| || || Brighton || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || West Derbyshire || style="background:"|
|Con || "Too busy" serving with his Regiment to attend properly to parliamentary duties
|-
| || || Combined Scottish Universities || style="background:"|
|L Nat ||
|-
| || || Bexley || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed Deputy Chairman of the Unemployment Assistance Board
|-
| || || Rotherhithe || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed Chairman of the West Midlands Divisional Coal Board, under the National Coal Board
|-
| || || Normanton || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed Labour director of the North-Eastern Divisional Coal Board, under the National Coal Board
|-
| || || Paddington, North || style="background:"|
|Lab || Ill health
|-
| || || Howdenshire || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill health
|-
| || || Croydon, North || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge
|-
| || || Southwark Central || style="background:"|
|Lab || Ill-health
|-
| || || Sowerby || style="background:"|
|Lab || Found to have accepted gifts from a "fixer" to influence his conduct as a minister
|}
1950 to 1999
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Date!!Member!!Constituency!!colspan=2|Party!!class="unsortable"|Reason for resignation
|-
| || || Sheffield, Neepsend || style="background:"|
|Lab || Vacating his seat so that Solicitor-General Sir Frank Soskice could return to Parliament
|-
| || || Ormskirk || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Governor of Tasmania
|-
| || || Harrow, West || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || Belfast South || style="background:"|
|UUP || Ill-health
|-
| || || Canterbury || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || Hayes and Harlington || style="background:"|
|Lab || Ill-health
|-
| || || Abingdon || style="background:"|
|Con || Created a Baron (coronation honours list); vacating his seat to allow an early election
|-
| || || Crosby || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || Bournemouth, West || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health<!-- But wouldn't he have been ineligible as a Lord? -->
|-
| || || Harrogate || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || Armagh || style="background:"|
|UUP || Giving up a political career in order to concentrate on farming the family estate
|-
| || || Gravesend || style="background:"|
|Lab || Seeking re-election as a candidate opposed to British development of the hydrogen bomb
|-
| || || Melton || style="background:"|
|Con || Opposed to Government policy on the Suez Crisis
|-
| || || Warwick and Leamington || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health; had retired as Prime Minister
|-
| || || Leicester, South East || style="background:"|
|Con || Concentrating on business life involving frequent visits to Africa
|-
| || || St. Helens || style="background:"|
|Lab || Unable to devote his full time to Parliamentary activities
|-
| || || Harrow, East || style="background:"|
|Con || Charged with gross indecency with a Coldstream guardsman in St James's Park
|-
| || || Glasgow, Bridgeton || style="background:"|
|Lab || Ill-health
|-
| || || Lincoln || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed High Commissioner to Ghana
|-
| || || West Derbyshire || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed High Commissioner to Malta
|-
| || || Bristol, South East || style="background:"|
|Con || 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
|-
| || || Birmingham, Hall Green || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Chairman of the Prices and Incomes Board
|-
| || || Nuneaton || style="background:"|
|Lab || Concentrating on work as General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union
|-
| || || West Derbyshire || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed Chairman of London Weekend Television
|-
| || || New Forest || style="background:"|
|Con ||Ill-health
|-
| || || Morpeth || style="background:"|
|Lab || Charged under the Official Secrets Act
|-
| || || Liverpool, Scotland || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed Regional Secretary, National Union of General and Municipal Workers
|-
| || || Lincoln || style="background:"|
|Lab || Seeking re-election on leaving the Labour Party
|-
| || || West Bromwich || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed Deputy Director General for Development by the European Community
|-
| || || Wirral || style="background:"|
|Speaker || Retiring as Speaker of the House of Commons
|-
| || || Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Central || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed Chairman of Cable & Wireless
|-
| || || City of London and Westminster South || style="background:"|
|Con || Appointed a European Commissioner
|-
| || || Ashfield || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed Chief Advisor to the President of the European Commission
|-
| || || Bournemouth East || style="background:"|
|Con || Found in contempt of the House (Poulson scandal)
|-
| || || Knutsford || style="background:"|
|Con || Ill-health
|-
| || || Mitcham and Morden || style="background:"|
|Lab || Seeking re-election on joining the Social Democratic Party
|-
| || || Chesterfield || style="background:"|
|Lab || Appointed Executive Deputy Chairman of Coalite plc
|-
| || || North Antrim || style="background:"|
|DUP || Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement
|-
| || || South Antrim || style="background:"|
|UUP || Seeking re-election in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement
|-
| || || Beckenham || style="background:"|
|Con || Revelations of an affair with a 17-year-old nightclub hostess
|}
Since 2000
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Date
!Member
!Constituency
!colspan=2|Party
!class="unsortable"|Reason for resignation
|-
|
|
|Ceredigion
!style="background:"|
|PC
|Elected a member of the National Assembly for Wales
|-
|
|
|Falkirk West
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|Elected a Member of the Scottish Parliament
|-
|
|
|Hartlepool
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|Appointed a European commissioner
|-
|
|
|Henley
!style="background:"|
|Con
|Elected Mayor of London
|-
|
|
|Glasgow East
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|Ill health
|-
|
|
|Glasgow North East
!style="background:"|
|Speaker
|Retiring as Speaker of the House of Commons
|-
|
|
|Belfast West
!style="background:"|
|SF
|To stand in the 2011 Irish general election
|-
|
|
|Leicester South
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|To stand for election as Mayor of Leicester
|-
|
|
|Corby
!style="background:"|
|Con
|To join her family in New York
|-
|
|
|Manchester Central
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|To stand for election as Police and crime commissioner for the Greater Manchester Police Force Area
|-
|
|
|Mid Ulster
!style="background:"|
|SF
|To end double-jobbing as Member of Parliament and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
|-
|
|
|South Shields
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|To become head of the International Rescue Committee in New York
|-
|
|
|Clacton
!style="background:"|
|Con
|Seeking re-election, having joined the UK Independence Party
|-
|
|
|Ogmore
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|To contest the 2016 Welsh Assembly election
|-
|12 September 2016
|
|Witney
!style="background:"|
|Con
|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
|-
|4 November 2016
|
|Sleaford and North Hykeham
!style="background:"|
|Con
|"Significant policy differences" with the government regarding their approach to the UK leaving the European Union
|-
|23 January 2017
|
|Copeland
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|To become Head of Development and Community Relations for Sellafield Ltd
|-
|9 May 2018
|
|Lewisham East
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|To become Deputy Mayor of London for Transport
|-
|4 November 2019
|
|Buckingham
!style="background:"|
|Speaker
|Retiring as Speaker of the House of Commons
|-
|24 March 2021
|
|Airdrie and Shotts
!style="background:"|
|SNP
|To seek election at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election
|-
|5 November 2021
|
|North Shropshire
!style="background:"|
|Con
|Breaching the rules against paid advocacy
|-
|4 May 2022
|
|Tiverton and Honiton
!style="background:"|
|Con
|Viewed pornography in the Palace of Westminster
|-
|10 November 2022
|
|Stretford and Urmston
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|To become Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester
|-
|12 June 2023
|
|Selby and Ainsty
!style="background:"|
|Con
|| Resignation in solidarity with Boris Johnson
|-
|19 June 2023
|
|Somerton and Frome
!style="background:"|
|Con
|| Allegations of sexual harassment and drug abuse
|-
|7 September 2023
|
|Tamworth
!style="background:"|
|Con
||Allegations of sexual misconduct
|-
|25 March 2024
|
|Blackpool South
!style="background:"|
|Con
|| Filmed appearing to offer lobbying favours for payment
|-
|23 January 2026
|Andrew Gwynne
|Gorton and Denton
!style="background:"|
|Lab
|Following his suspension from the Labour Party, he resigned due to "significant ill-health"
|-
|14 May 2026
|Stephen Flynn
|Aberdeen South
!style="background:"|
|SNP
|Resigned after being elected to the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine, and as per the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025, individuals are banned from holding both a seat in the Scottish Parliament and the House of Commons.
|}
Dual appointments
Some former MPs have held both offices of Steward of the Manor of Northstead and of the Chiltern Hundreds at different times due to multiple resigations. These include:
- William Philip Price
- William Welby-Gregory
- Lord Charles Beresford
- John William Logan
- Boris Johnson
See also
Office still in use
- List of stewards of the Chiltern Hundreds
Offices not 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
;Specific