Chiltern Hundreds
The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham is a sinecure appointment which is used as a device allowing a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament (MP) to resign his or her seat. MPs cannot outright resign their seats; appointment to this position by the Chancellor of the Exchequer places the MP in a salaried position under the monarch, against the rules of Parliament. The MP's seat is therefore revoked and the MP has effectively resigned. The office, which is also known as the "Chiltern Hundreds", is allocated in rotation with that of Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.
Read more about Chiltern Hundreds: Instrument of Resignation, Notice and Orders, Crown Steward and Bailiff
Famous quotes containing the word hundreds:
“Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)