Naming (parliamentary procedure)

Naming is a procedure in the British House of Commons, Australian House of Representatives and the New Zealand Parliament, whereby the Speaker or one of his deputies proposes a vote on the suspension of a member of the House if the Speaker believes that he has broken the rules of conduct of the House. Usually this is only done if the member has already been ordered to leave the House (which automatically leads to suspension for the remainder of that day) and refused to do so, or has committed a serious breach of conduct, and carries a suspension of up to five days and the loss of the Member's salary during that period.

The Speaker or Deputy Speaker declares "I name", followed by the name of the member, and then puts the question,

“

The question is that the honourable member be suspended from the services of the House, as many of that opinion say 'Aye'... to the contrary 'No'.

”

A division is not normally required since MPs will usually back the speaker's judgement. However, when John McDonnell was named by deputy speaker Alan Haselhurst on 15 January 2009 for manhandling the parliamentary mace a division was called because George Galloway and other members declared themselves with the Noes. A vote on the suspension was not held as the government refused to provide tellers.

List of namings

Date	Chair	Member	Reason
3 February 1881	Sir Henry Brand	John Dillon, Charles Stewart Parnell, James Lysaght Finegan, John Barry, Joseph Biggar, Garrett Byrne, William Corbet, John Daly, Mr. DAWSON, Thomas Patrick Gill, Edmund Dwyer Gray, Timothy Michael Healy, Richard Lalor, Edmund Leamy, James Leahy, Justin McCarthy, James Carlile McCoan, Edward Marum, Robert Henry Metge, Isaac Nelson, Arthur O'Connor, Thomas Power O'Connor, Daniel O'Donoghue, James Patrick Mahon, William Henry O'Sullivan, John O'Connor Power, John Redmond, Thomas Sexton, Alexander Martin Sullivan, Timothy Daniel Sullivan, Bernard Charles Molloy, James Joseph O'Kelly, Frank Hugh O'Donnell, Richard Power, Richard O'Shaughnessy	A mass ejection of Irish MPs who caused uproar in the House after hearing Michael Davitt had been arrested. Dillon was named for repeatedly trying to ask an overruled point of order. Parnell, Finegan, O'Kelly and O'Donnell were named for proposing William Ewart Gladstone no longer be heard during the debate. The rest were named for refusing to attend the divisions to object the members. No second teller appeared for the division for Callan so the "aye" voice vote was held. All refused to leave after being named and were ejected by the Serjeant-at-Arms, except Molloy who had already left the House.
24 February 1885	Arthur Peel	William O'Brien
28 Jul 1887	Arthur Peel	Timothy Michael Healy
19 July 1888	Arthur Peel	Charles Conybeare	For stating the Barrow Drainage Bills were a public scandal.
4 May 1892	Arthur Peel	Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham
15 August 1895	William Gully	Charles Kearns Deane Tanner
5 Mar 1901	James Lowther / William Gully	Eugene Crean, Patrick McHugh, Patrick White, John Cullinan, Patrick Doogan, Anthony Donelan, William Abraham, James Gilhooly, William Lundon, Thomas McGovern, Jeremiah Jordan	Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms
30 March 1908	Deputy Speaker	John O'Connor	Named but no division held as he left the House.
16 October 1908	Alfred Emmott, 1st Baron Emmott / James Lowther	Victor Grayson	For repeatedly trying to ask an overruled point of order.
1 July 1918	James Lowther	Noel Pemberton Billing
1 December 1925	James Hope	William Murdoch Adamson	For repeatedly trying to ask an overruled point of order.
22 April 1937	Sir Dennis Herbert / Edward FitzRoy	Aneurin Bevan	For refusing to withdraw his comment to Sir Dennis Herbert that "your conduct has been abominable".
18 July 1949	Francis Bowles / Douglas Clifton Brown	Ellis Smith	For repeatedly trying to ask on what basis speakers had been selected during the debate.
26 May 1982	George Thomas	Andrew Faulds	For persistently trying to ask an overruled point of order.
2 May 1984	Bernard Weatherill	Tam Dalyell	For accusing Margaret Thatcher of lying.
17 July 1984	Bernard Weatherill	Dennis Skinner	For refusing to withdraw his comment that Margaret Thatcher would bribe judges.
31 July 1984	Bernard Weatherill	Martin Flannery	For refusing to withdraw his words "one of [Margaret Thatcher's] tame Tory judges".
11 November 1985	Bernard Weatherill	Brian Sedgemore	For refusing to withdraw his accusation of Geoffrey Howe "peverting the course of justice".
12 November 1987	Bernard Weatherill	Tam Dalyell	For refusing to withdraw his accusation that Margaret Thatcher had lied.
25 January 1988	Bernard Weatherill	Ken Livingstone	For refusing to withdraw his accusation of Sir Patrick Mayhew being an "accomplice to murder".
18 February 1988	Bernard Weatherill	Harry Cohen	For persistently requesting Christopher Chope give way after being refused.
13 April 1988	Bernard Weatherill	Dave Nellist	For persistently trying to ask an overruled point of order.
25 July 1988	Bernard Weatherill	Tam Dalyell	For refusing to withdraw his accusation that Margaret Thatcher had lied.
14 Mar 1989	Bernard Weatherill	Jim Sillars	For persistently trying to ask an overruled point of order.
24 July 1989	Bernard Weatherill	Tam Dalyell	For refusing to withdraw his accusation that Margaret Thatcher had lied.
23 July 1990	Bernard Weatherill	Dick Douglas	For persistently trying to ask an overruled point of order.
29 November 1993	Betty Boothroyd	The Rev. Ian Paisley	For refusing to withdraw the word "falsehood" during a debate with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Sir Patrick Mayhew). The Speaker had first tried to remove Paisley under Standing Order 42.
8 December 2005	Michael Martin	Dennis Skinner	For refusing to withdraw his remark that "The only thing growing [in the 1970s and a lot of the 1980s] were the lines of coke in front of boy George and the rest of them", aimed at George Osborne.
20 April 2006	Sir Alan Haselhurst	Dennis Skinner	For refusing to withdraw his remark that Theresa May was being let off with having stated Gordon Brown had misled the House, because she is a Tory.
23 July 2007	Michael Martin	George Galloway	For questioning the integrity of MPs investigating whether he took money from Iraq.
15 January 2009	Sir Alan Haselhurst	John McDonnell	For manhandling the parliamentary mace.
18 September 2012	John Bercow	Paul Flynn	For refusing to withdraw his accusation that ministers had lied during a statement from Philip Hammond regarding the suspension by NATO of joint operations with Afghan security forces.

See also

• Suspension from the UK parliament
• List of incidents of grave disorder in the British House of Commons