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Suspension from the UK parliament

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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 an MP 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]

Short exclusions are typically given for conduct within the chamber, including conduct intended as forms of protest—several short suspensions listed below involve interfering with the ceremonial mace. The Commons Select Committee on Standards and the Independent Expert Panel are empowered to investigate more serious misconduct and can recommend suspensions. Such suspensions of at least 10 sitting days and/or 14 calendar days trigger recall petitions under the provisions of the Recall of MPs Act 2015.

Members of the House of Lords can also be suspended. This occurred for the first time since 1642[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

List of MPs suspended from parliament

See also: Naming (parliamentary procedure) § House of Commons (United Kingdom)
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.[6]
27 May 1976 Michael Heseltine Conservative ... Seizing the ceremonial mace.[7]
1984 Dennis Skinner Labour ... Unparliamentary language – referring to David Owen as a "pompous sod", and then only withdrawing the word "pompous".[8]
1985 Brian Sedgemore Labour ... Accusing Nigel Lawson of "perverting the course of justice".
15 March 1988 Alex Salmond Scottish National Party 5 days Disorderly conduct.
20 April 1988 Ron Brown Labour 20 days Damaging the ceremonial mace by throwing it to the floor. He had agreed to read a pre-written apology but proceeded to add comments of his own, saying that he was "grovelling".
2 July 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.[9]
9 May 1995 Dennis Skinner Labour ... Unparliamentary language — accusing the government of a "crooked deal".
3 March 1998 Ronnie Campbell Labour ... Unparliamentary language, calling Conservative Shadow Agriculture Minister Michael Jack a "hypocrite".[10]
2000 Teresa Gorman Conservative 4 weeks Failing to disclose on the Register of Members Interests between 1987 and 1994 three rented properties in south London and for her failure to register two rented-out Portuguese properties from 1987 to 1999. The Commons' Standards and Privileges committee also found she should not have introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill in 1990 proposing the repeal of the Rent Acts without registering and declaring a financial interest.[11]
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.[12]
February 2002 Keith Vaz Labour 2 weeks Negligently overclaiming on expenses.[13]
14 February 2003 Michael Trend Conservative 1 month Obstructing an investigation into his financial affairs.[14]
February 2003 Clive Betts Labour 1 week Agreeing to copy a doctored document for his parliamentary assistant as part of an immigration bid[15]
3 February 2005 Jonathan Sayeed Conservative 2 weeks Using tours of Parliament to promote a travel business.[16]
8 December 2005 Dennis Skinner Labour ... Accused the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne of taking cocaine as a student.[17]
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".[18]
23 July 2007 George Galloway Respect 18 days Questioning the integrity of MPs investigating whether Galloway took money from Iraq.[19][20]
31 January 2008 Derek Conway Conservative 10 days Employing family members in breach of rules on payments.[21]
15 January 2009 John McDonnell Labour 5 days Removing the ceremonial mace.[22][23]
11 May 2011 David Laws Liberal Democrat 7 days Paying rent from his MPs' allowance to his partner.[24]
18 September 2012 Paul Flynn Labour 5 days Accusing Defence Secretary Philip Hammond of lying to the House of Commons
10 July 2013 Nigel Dodds Democratic Unionist Party ... Unparliamentary language – describing answers given by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers to questions about her powers as being "deliberately deceptive".[25]
11 April 2016 Dennis Skinner Labour ... Unparliamentary language – referring to Prime Minister David Cameron as 'Dodgy Dave' and refusing to withdraw the remark.[26]
10 October 2016 Justin Tomlinson Conservative 2 days leaked a parliamentary report to a Wonga.com employee[27]
13 June 2018 Ian Blackford Scottish National Party ... Not returning to his seat and causing a scene.[28]
24 July 2018 Ian Paisley Jr Democratic Unionist Party 30 days Failing to declare two family holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan Government. Triggered the 2018 North Antrim recall petition
10 December 2018 Lloyd Russell-Moyle Labour ... Removing the ceremonial mace.[29]
31 October 2019 Keith Vaz Labour 6 months Expressed willingness to purchase cocaine for sex workers.[30]
11 May 2020 Conor Burns Conservative 7 days Intimidating a member of the public.[31]
16 December 2020 Drew Hendry Scottish National Party Not returning to his seat against the Speaker's instruction and removing the ceremonial mace.
27 May 2021 Rob Roberts Conservative 6 weeks Breach of Parliament's sexual misconduct policy.
22 July 2021 Dawn Butler Labour Unparliamentary language - Stating the Prime Minister had 'lied' and refusing to withdraw the remark.[32]
31 January 2022 Ian Blackford Scottish National Party Accusing Boris Johnson of "wilfully misleading parliament" about the parties held at Downing Street during Covid-19 restrictions and refusing Speaker's request to withdraw his comment by responding "It's not my fault if the prime minister can't be trusted to tell the truth".[33]
13 July 2022 Neale Hanvey
Kenny MacAskill 		Alba Party 5 days Disorderly conduct - Protesting for Scottish Independence by obstructing Prime Minister's Questions.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b "Standing Orders (2005)". HMSO.
  2. ^ "Britain: 2 Are Suspended From the House of Lords". The New York Times. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. ^ In 1642, Thomas Savile, 1st Earl of Sussex was suspended for acting against Parliament on behalf of Charles I.[2]
  4. ^ Sparrow, Andrew (14 May 2009). "Two Labour peers, Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor, face suspension for offering to change law for money". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Three peers suspended from Lords over expenses claims". BBC News. October 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  6. ^ "Glasgow Green (Lay Preachers)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 2 July 1931. col. 1465–1471.
  7. ^ "Mace - Commons". BBC News. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  8. ^ Silvera, Ian (12 April 2016). "Dennis Skinner's record of rebellion: Veteran Labour MP kicked out of parliament yet again". Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  9. ^ thatcheritescot (28 July 2013). "Betty Boothroyd Suspends Ian Paisley". Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2018 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "Labour MP suspended from Commons". BBC News. 3 March 1998. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Standards and Privileges (Hansard, 1 March 2000)".
  12. ^ "Committee on Standards in Public Life Seventh Report 2001". Parliament. 3 May 2001. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  13. ^ Russell, Ben (14 February 2002). "Vaz given one-month Commons suspension". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  14. ^ Woolf, Marie (14 February 2003). "Senior Tory MP suspended over false expenses claim". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  15. ^ "MP suspended from Commons". BBC News. 11 September 2003. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  16. ^ Hencke, David (4 February 2005). "Tory MP suspended for offering Westminster tours". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  17. ^ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 8 Dec 2005 (pt 4)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ King, Oliver (20 April 2006). "Skinner thrown out of the Commons - again". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  19. ^ "Galloway ordered out of Commons". 24 July 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  20. ^ "Children's Palliative Care/Hospice Services". TheyWorkForYou. 23 July 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  21. ^ "Derek Conway suspended from Commons". London: Daily Telegraph. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  22. ^ "MP suspended after mace protest". BBC News. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  23. ^ "Order..." TheyWorkForYou. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  24. ^ Watt, Holly (11 May 2011). "MPs' expenses: David Laws suspended from House of Commons for seven days". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  25. ^ "Dodds ordered from Commons chamber". BBC News. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  26. ^ "Dennis Skinner thrown out of Parliament over 'Dodgy Dave' jibe". Independent.co.uk. 11 April 2016. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  27. ^ The Independent
  28. ^ "SNP MPs walk out of PMQs in 'Brexit power grab' protest". BBC News Online. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  29. ^ Buchan, Lizzy (10 December 2018). "Labour MP suspended from Commons for stealing ceremonial mace in protest at Brexit vote delay". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  30. ^ "MP Keith Vaz suspended from Commons after drug and sex inquiry". BBC News Online. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  31. ^ "Committee on Standards publishes report on Conor Burns - News from Parliament". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 4 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  32. ^ "Dawn Butler reprimanded for saying Boris Johnson 'lied'". ITV News. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  33. ^ "Gray report: SNP Westminster leader Blackford ordered out of Commons". BBC News Online. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  34. ^ "'Shut up and get out' - Speaker orders two MPS to leave". BBC News.
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