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How to Resign Your Seat in Britain

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When Chris Huhne wanted to resign his seat in the British Parliament, he had to instead be appointed to “a paid office of the Crown” which automatically disqualified him from holding a seat in the House of Commons.

The reason: “A resolution passed by the House of Commons on 2 March 1624 prohibits MPs directly from resigning their seats. Death, disqualification and expulsion are the only means by which a Member’s seat may be vacated during the lifetime of a Parliament.”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer appointed Huhne to be Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern.

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goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

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Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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