House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975

The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 (c. 24) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that prohibits certain categories of people from becoming members of the House of Commons. It is an updated version of similar older acts, known collectively by the stock short title House of Commons Disqualification Act.

House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to disqualification for membership of the House of Commons.
Citation	1975 c. 24
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent	8 May 1975
Commencement	8 May 1975
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957
Act of Parliament
Long title	An Act to make provision for disqualifying the holders of specified offices for membership of the House of Commons, and to repeal the enactments providing for the disqualification of the holders of offices or places of profit under the Crown and other offices, of persons having pensions from the Crown and of persons contracting with the Crown for or on account of the public service, and certain enactments disqualifying members of that House for holding other offices; to make corresponding provision in respect of the Senate and House of Commons of Northern Ireland; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation	5 & 6 Eliz. 2. c. 20
Territorial extent	England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	17 April 1957
Other legislation
Amends	Succession to the Crown Act 1707, House of Commons (Disqualifications) Act 1801
Repeals/revokes	House of Commons (Disqualification) Act 1693, Taxation of Members of Parliament Act 1700, Crown Pensioners Disqualification Act 1715

House of Commons (Disqualifications) Act 1801
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for declaring what Persons shall be disabled from sitting and voting in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and also for carrying into effect Part of the Fourth Article of the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, by providing in what cases Persons holding Offices or Places of Profit under the Crown of Ireland shall be incapable of being Members of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the said United Kingdom.
Citation	41 Geo. 3. (U.K.) c. 52
Territorial extent	England and Wales Scotland Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	20 June 1801
Other legislation
Amended by	Statute Law Revision Act 1872 Statute Law Revision Act 1888 Statute Law Revision Act 1950 House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the House of Commons (Disqualifications) Act 1801 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The groups disqualified from all constituencies are:

• Lords Spiritual
• judges
• civil servants
• serving regular members of the armed forces, except Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals and Marshals of the Royal Air Force
• full-time police constables
• members of legislatures of non-Commonwealth countries, other than Ireland
• holders of certain administrative and diplomatic offices
• all members of certain bodies, such as tribunals and government departments, plus some statutory corporations such as Channel 4

Lords-lieutenant and high sheriffs are also disqualified from seats for constituencies within their area.

Section 2 limits the number of government officials (specifically, holders of offices listed in Schedule 2) in the House of Commons at any one time to 95. Any appointed above that limit are forbidden to vote until the number is reduced to 95.

Section 4 effectively adds the Crown Stewards and Bailiffs of the Chiltern Hundreds and of the Manor of Northstead to Part III to Schedule 1, thus naming them as offices whose holders are disqualified. These offices are sinecures, used in modern times to effect resignation from the House of Commons. Prior to 1926, this disqualification was due to them being "offices of profit under the Crown", but that disqualification was abolished in 1926 and by s. 1(4) of this Act.

The election to the Commons of a disqualified person is invalid, and the seat of an MP who becomes disqualified is vacated immediately (triggering a by-election). The Privy Council has jurisdiction to determine whether a purported MP is disqualified; the issue may be tried in the High Court, Court of Session or High Court of Northern Ireland as appropriate for the constituency.

Amendments

This Act was amended by subsequent legislation:

• The Disqualifications Act 2000, a consequence of the Good Friday Agreement, added the words "other than Ireland", prior to which Irish legislators were disqualified just as any other foreign legislators are. This was to bring them in line with treatment of Commonwealth legislators; however, as of 2022^[update] no one has taken advantage of this privilege.
• Previously, all ministers of the Church of Scotland, priests, and deacons were disqualified. The House of Commons (Removal of Clergy Disqualification) Act 2001 restricted this disqualification to only Lords Spiritual, i.e. the most senior Anglican bishops who already sit in the House of Lords ex officio.
• Various enactments have amended the lists of disqualified bodies and offices, particularly as they have come in or out of existence or fallen out of government control.
• The Representation of the People Act 1981 provides for the automatic disqualification of parliamentary candidates or expulsion of sitting MPs if they serve an imprisonment of over a year. The nomination of a disqualified candidate is voided. The election of such a candidate or the re-election of an MP thus imprisoned will also be voided, leading to a by-election in their constituency.
• The Wales Act 2014 and Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 respectively made members of Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament), formerly the National Assembly for Wales until May 2020, or the Northern Ireland Assembly ineligible for the House of Commons.

External links

• Text of the Act, original and amendments