Suspension from the UK parliament
Parliamentary discipline
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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. The speaker 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 this time they cannot take part in either votes or 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. Since 1642, this occurred for the first time [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
| 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] |
| 1981 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | 5 days | Accused Speaker George Thomas of attending an event to raise funds for the Conservative Party. This involved the formal naming of Skinner, resulting in a five-day suspension of the service of the House.[8] |
| 1984 | ... | Unparliamentary language – referring to David Owen as a "pompous sod", and then only withdrawing the word "pompous" when instructed by the Speaker to withdraw the remark.[9] | ||
| 1985 | Brian Sedgemore | 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 | ... | Unparliamentary language – referring to Minister for Agriculture John Gummer as a "little squirt of a minister" | |
| 29 November 1993 | Ian Paisley | Democratic Unionist | 5 days | Unparliamentary language – refusing to withdraw use of the word "falsehoods" after being instructed to do so by the Speaker, and then refusing to withdraw from the house after being instructed to by the speaker.[10][11] |
| 9 May 1995 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | ... | Unparliamentary language — accusing the government of a "crooked deal". |
| 3 March 1998 | Ronnie Campbell | Unparliamentary language, calling Conservative Shadow Agriculture Minister Michael Jack a "hypocrite".[12] | ||
| 1 March 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.[13] |
| 31 October 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.[14][15] |
| 13 February 2002 | Keith Vaz | 1 month | Giving misleading information to the Standards and Privileges Committee.[16][17] | |
| 14 February 2003 | Michael Trend | Conservative | 2 weeks | Obstructing an investigation into his financial affairs.[18] |
| 11 September 2003 | Clive Betts | Labour | 1 week | Agreeing to copy a doctored document for his parliamentary assistant as part of an immigration bid[19][20] |
| 3 February 2005 | Jonathan Sayeed | Conservative | 2 weeks | Using tours of Parliament to promote a travel business.[21] |
| 8 December 2005 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | ... | Accused the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne of taking cocaine as a student.[22] |
| 20 April 2006 | Unparliamentary language – accusing Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst of leniency towards opposition frontbencher Theresa May "because she's a Tory".[23] | |||
| 23 July 2007 | George Galloway | Respect | 18 days | Questioning the integrity of MPs investigating whether Galloway took money from Iraq.[24][25] |
| 31 January 2008 | Derek Conway | Conservative | 10 days | Employing family members in breach of rules on payments.[26] |
| 15 January 2009 | John McDonnell | Labour | 5 days | Removing the ceremonial mace.[27][28] |
| 11 May 2011 | David Laws | Liberal Democrat | 7 days | Paying rent from his MP's allowance to his partner.[29] |
| 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".[30] |
| 11 April 2016 | Dennis Skinner | Labour | Unparliamentary language – referring to Prime Minister David Cameron as 'Dodgy Dave' and refusing to withdraw the remark.[31] | |
| 10 October 2016 | Justin Tomlinson | Conservative | 2 days | leaked a parliamentary report to a Wonga.com employee[32] |
| 13 June 2018 | Ian Blackford | Scottish National Party | ... | Not returning to his seat and causing a scene.[33] |
| 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.[34] |
| 31 October 2019 | Keith Vaz | 6 months | Expressed willingness to purchase cocaine for sex workers.[35] | |
| 11 May 2020 | Conor Burns | Conservative | 7 days | Intimidating a member of the public.[36] |
| 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.[37] | |
| 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".[38] | |
| 13 July 2022 | Neale Hanvey Kenny MacAskill |
Alba Party | 5 days | Disorderly conduct - Protesting for Scottish Independence by obstructing Prime Minister's Questions.[39] |
| 24 May 2023 | Paul Bristow | Conservative | Disorderly conduct - Interrupting Leader of The Opposition Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions.[40] | |
| 6 June 2023 | Margaret Ferrier | Independent (formerly Scottish National Party) | 30 days (later recalled by constituents) | Breach of Covid lockdown rules. Triggered the 2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West recall petition.[41] |
| 25 October 2023 | Peter Bone | Independent (Conservative whip suspended) | Committed bullying and sexual misconduct towards a staff member. Triggered the 2023 Wellingborough recall petition.[42] | |
| 28 February 2024 | Scott Benton | 35 days (later resigned during recall petition) | Suggesting to undercover reporters from The Times that he would be willing to break lobbying rules for money claiming that "he was corrupt and for sale". Triggered the 2024 Blackpool South recall petition[43] | |
| 21 January 2026 | Richard Holden | Conservative | Disorderly conduct - Asked to leave the Commons by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle after interrupting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions. | |
| 11 March 2026 | Peter Swallow | Labour | Disorderly conduct - Asked to leave the Commons by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle after constantly interrupting Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch during Prime Minister's Questions. | |
| 20 April 2026 | Lee Anderson | Reform UK | Unparliamentary language - Accusing the Prime Minister of 'lying' and refusing to withdraw the remark. | |
| Zarah Sultana | Your Party (UK) | 5 days |