Suspension from the UK parliament
In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Members of Parliament (MPs) can be suspended from sitting in the House of Commons by the Speaker for "disorderly conduct".[1] The Speaker can order that an MP is removed from the house until the end of the day, but more often "names" an MP.
When an MP is named, a vote is held in the house in the same way as a normal vote on legislation. If the vote is successful, the MP named is suspended for five days for a first offence and 20 days for a second offence, during which time they cannot take part in votes and debates in Parliament. They also have their pay suspended.[1]
Members of the House of Lords can also be suspended. This occurred for the first time since 1642[2] in May 2009, when Labour peers Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor of Blackburn were suspended after a newspaper accused them of offering to change laws for cash.[3] It was followed by the suspension of three more peers in October 2010, when Baroness Uddin, Lord Paul and Lord Bhatia were suspended following the Parliamentary expenses scandal.[4]
List of MPs suspended from parliament
Date | Member of Parliament | Political party | Duration | Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 July 1931 | John McGovern | Independent Labour Party | Remainder of the session | Disregarding ruling of the chair and requiring force to be removed when initially ordered to withdraw.[5] |
27 May 1976 | Michael Heseltine | Conservative | ... | Seizing the ceremonial mace.[6] |
1985 | Brian Sedgemore | Labour | ... | Accusing Nigel Lawson of "perverting the course of justice. |
1992 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | ... | Unparliamentary language - referring to Minister for Agriculture John Gummer as a "little squirt of a minister" |
1993 | Ian Paisley | Democratic Unionist | ... | Unparliamentary Language - refusing to withdraw use of the word "falsehoods" after being instructed to do so by the Speaker.[7] |
1995 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | ... | Accused the Government of being crooked. |
1998 | Ronnie Campbell | Labour | ... | Unparliamentary language, calling Conservative Shadow Agriculture Minister Michael Jack a "hypocrite".[8] |
2001 | Geoffrey Robinson | Labour | 3 weeks | Failing to declare receipt of £200,000 from outside interest Hollis/Lock in payment for "management services" he provided in 1990[9] |
February 2002 | Keith Vaz | Labour | 2 weeks | Negligently overclaiming on expenses[10] |
14 February 2003 | Michael Trend | Conservative | 1 month | Obstructing an investigation into his financial affairs.[11] |
February 2003 | Clive Betts | Labour | 1 week | Hiring a male escort as his Parliamentary assistant [12] |
3 February 2005 | Jonathan Sayeed | Conservative | 2 week | Using tours of parliament to promote a travel business.[13] |
8 December 2005 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | ... | Accused the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne of taking cocaine as a student.[14] |
20 April 2006 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | ... | Unparliamentary Language - accusing Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst of leniency towards opposition frontbencher Theresa May "because she's a Tory".[15] |
23 July 2007 | George Galloway | Respect | 18 days | Questioning the integrity of MPs investigating whether Galloway took money from Iraq.[16][17] |
31 January 2008 | Derek Conway | Conservative | 10 days | Employing family members in breach of rules on payments[18] |
15 January 2009 | John McDonnell | Labour | 5 days | Removing the ceremonial mace.[19][20] |
11 May 2011 | David Laws | Liberal Democrat | 7 days | Paying rent from his MPs' allowance to his partner.[21] |
18 September 2012 | Paul Flynn | Labour | 5 Days | Accusing defence secretary Philip Hammond of lying to the House of Commons |
11 April 2016 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | ... | Unparliamentary language - referring to Prime Minister David Cameron as 'Dodgy Dave'[22] |
A full and official list of MPs suspended from Parliament from 1949-2009 can be found here:link Members Suspended from the House of Commons
References
- 1 2 "Standing Orders (2005)". HMSO.
- ↑ In 1642, Thomas Savile, 1st Earl of Sussex was suspended for acting against Parliament on behalf of Charles I.[3]
- 1 2 "Labour peers suspended in first Lords-for-hire scandal since 17th century". London: Daily Mail. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ↑ "Three peers suspended from Lords over expenses claims". BBC News. October 2010. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ↑ "Glasgow Green (Lay Preachers)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 2 July 1931. col. 1465–1471.
- ↑ "Mace - Commons". BBC News. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAfTHrtjvPg
- ↑ "Labour MP suspended from Commons". BBC News. 3 March 1998. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- ↑ "Committee on Standards in Public Life Seventh Report 2001". Parliament. 3 May 2001. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
|first1=
missing|last1=
in Authors list (help) - ↑ Russell, Ben (14 February 2002). "Vaz given one-month Commons suspension". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ↑ Woolf, Marie (14 February 2003). "Senior Tory MP suspended over false expenses claim". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ↑ ..., ... (February 2003). "Labour MP suspended from Commons". London: The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ↑ Hencke, David (4 February 2005). "Tory MP suspended for offering Westminster tours". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo051208/debtext/51208-04.htm
- ↑ King, Oliver (20 April 2006). "Skinner thrown out of the Commons - again". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ↑ "Galloway ordered out of Commons". 24 July 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ↑ "Children's Palliative Care/Hospice Services". TheyWorkForYou. 23 July 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ↑ "Derek Conway suspended from Commons". London: Daily Telegraph. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ↑ "MP suspended after mace protest". BBC News. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ↑ "Order...". TheyWorkForYou. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ↑ Watt, Holly (11 May 2011). "MPs' expenses: David Laws suspended from House of Commons for seven days". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dennis-skinner-thrown-out-of-parliament-for-refusing-to-withdraw-dodgy-dave-jibe-a6979111.html