United Kingdom
In Britain, the principle has been eroded. As a parliamentary system, the executive sits in the legislature, and from the nineteenth century ministries were invariably led by members of Parliament or Peers. Until 1919, members of parliament who were appointed to ministerial office lost their right to sit in the Commons and had to seek re-election. The rule survives in the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 which specifies a number of state positions that make an individual ineligible to serve as a member of parliament. The last vestige of the rule can be seen through the process of resignation from the House of Commons. By tradition, resignation from the House of Commons is impossible. An MP who wishes to resign has first to accept an office of profit under the Crown, thus vacating his seat. Members who wish to retire ask to be appointed to the office of steward or bailiff of Her Majesty’s Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham, or steward of the Manor of Northstead. While these ancient posts have no responsibilities attached to them, they fulfill the requirements of the law and disqualify Members from sitting, enabling their retirement.
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