19-668: The Ulster Progressive Unionist Association or, as it became within two months of its formation in June 1937, the Ulster Progressive Unionist Party (UPUP), was a political group formed to seek greater internal debate within unionism and to secure action on unemployment. The founder of the group was William John Stewart , the Ulster Unionist Party United Kingdom Member of Parliament for Belfast South between 1929 and 1945. He continued to take
38-594: A five-year cycle, or when a snap election is called. Since the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 , Parliament is automatically dissolved once five years have elapsed from its first meeting after an election. If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation , then a constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. Under the Representation of the People Act 1981 any MP sentenced to over
57-603: A majority of 29% of the total of votes cast. The closest contest came in East Down , where W. J. Price came within 1,000 votes of taking a seat, but even there, where the Nationalists were not contesting, the UPUA was unable to attract tactical votes from nationalists. 1938 Northern Ireland general election United Kingdom by-election 11 February 1943 William Stewart (Belfast MP) William John Stewart (1868 – 14 May 1946)
76-469: A member of Parliament is to do what they think in their faithful and disinterested judgement is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain. The second duty is to their constituents, of whom they are the representative but not the delegate. Burke's famous declaration on this subject is well known. It is only in the third place that their duty to party organisation or programme takes rank. All these three loyalties should be observed, but there
95-496: A person must be at least 18 years old and be a citizen of the UK , a Commonwealth nation, or Ireland . A person is not required to be registered to vote, nor are there any restrictions regarding where a candidate is a resident. The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 outlaws the holders of various positions from being MPs. These include civil servants , regular police officers (but not special constables ), regular members of
114-572: A prison sentence of a year or more. People in respect of whom a bankruptcy restrictions order has effect are disqualified from (existing) membership of the House of Commons (details differ slightly in different countries). Members are not permitted to resign their seats. In practice, however, they always can. Should a member wish to resign from the Commons , they may request appointment to one of two ceremonial Crown offices: that of Crown Steward and Bailiff of
133-498: A year in jail automatically vacates their seat. For certain types of lesser acts of wrongdoing, the Recall of MPs Act 2015 mandates that a recall petition be opened; if signed by more than 10% of registered voters within the constituency, the seat is vacated. In the past, only male adult property owners could stand for Parliament. In 1918, women acquired the right to stand for Parliament , and to vote. To be eligible to stand as an MP,
152-414: Is no doubt of the order in which they stand under any healthy manifestation of democracy. Theoretically, contemporary MPs are considered to have two duties, or three if they belong to a political party. Their primary responsibility is to act in the national interest. They must also act in the interests of their constituents, where this does not override their primary responsibility. Finally, if they belong to
171-839: The 1929 general election . He was returned unopposed in 1931 and 1935 . and was an MP to 1945. Accusing the Unionist government of displaying "autocratic" tendencies, in April 1937 he formed the Justice for Ulster Committee which proposed limiting office in government to eight years or two parliaments. In August 1937 he founded the Ulster Progressive Unionist Party . It called for greater action on unemployment and for bringing Northern Ireland up to British standards on housing and social services. Progressive Unionist candidates opposed UUP candidates in elections, but Stewart continued to take
190-643: The Northern Ireland Labour Party was only able to contest five seats. It represented a former section of the Ulster Unionist Party which opposed the official economic policy; in particular, the lack of urgency in dealing with unemployment and housing shortages. It proposed the maintenance of the union with the rest of the United Kingdom, the equalisation of taxation with the rest of the UK (which would have increased government revenues), and
209-629: The Senedd (Welsh Parliament) or the Northern Ireland Assembly are also ineligible for the Commons according to the Wales and Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts respectively, passed in 2014 (but members of the Scottish Parliament are eligible). People who are bankrupt cannot stand to be MPs. The Representation of the People Act 1981 excludes persons who are currently serving
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#1733084885545228-645: The United Kingdom , a member of Parliament ( MP ) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons , the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . All 650 members of the UK House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-post voting system in single member constituencies across the whole of the United Kingdom, where each constituency has its own single representative. All MP positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on
247-573: The armed forces (but not reservists), and some judges . Members of the House of Lords were not permitted to hold Commons seats until the passing of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 , which allows retired or resigned members of the House of Lords to stand or re-stand as MPs. Members of legislatures outside of the Commonwealth are excluded, with the exemption of the Irish legislature . Additionally, members of
266-568: The Chiltern Hundreds , or that of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead . These offices are sinecures (that is, they involve no actual duties); they exist solely to permit the "resignation" of members of the House of Commons. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for making the appointment, and, by convention, never refuses to do so when asked by a member who desires to leave
285-538: The Conservative and Unionist whip at Westminster, even though Progressive Unionist candidates opposed Ulster Unionist ones in the 1938 Northern Ireland general election (taking an average of the 30% of the vote in the and the 10 seats contested) and in 1943 Antrim by-election . The Association provided the main opposition in the 1938 general election, as the Nationalist Party decided to boycott in some areas, and
304-826: The Conservative and Unionist whip at Westminster. Stewart retired from Parliament at the 1945 general election and died the following year, aged 77. This article about a member of Parliament representing a Northern Irish constituency is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Member of Parliament (United Kingdom) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee In
323-523: The House of Commons. Members of Parliament are entitled to use the post-nominal initials MP. MPs are referred to as "honourable" as a courtesy only during debates in the House of Commons (e.g., "the honourable member for ..."), or if they are the children of peers below the rank of marquess ("the honourable [first name] [surname]"). Those who are members of the Privy Council use the form The Right Honourable ( The Rt Hon. ) Name MP. The first duty of
342-617: The use of this to tackle unemployment and provide housing with cheap rents. It also proposed to adopt the programme of the Ulster Farmers Union . While it soon became apparent that the Association would not win a significant number of seats, it was widely believed that Stewart would either win or come very close in Belfast Cromac , against the young official candidate Maynard Sinclair . However, Sinclair won comparatively easily, with
361-512: Was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland who formed a Progressive Unionist Association to protest "autocratic" tendencies in the Unionist government and its lack of action on unemployment. Stewart studied at Queen's College, Belfast and became managing director at Stewart and Partners, Ltd. In 1919 he was an Independent Unionist candidate. He was elected as Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South at
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