James Cyril Aubrey George Dance (5 May 1907 – 16 March 1971) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was educated at Eton College and was in the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) during World War II. He was an insurance underwriter for Lloyd's of London .
28-548: Dance was elected as Member of Parliament for Bromsgrove at the 1955 general election . He was the parliamentary private secretary to George Ward during Ward's time as Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty and Secretary of State for Air . Dance remained an MP until he died in office on 16 March 1971, at the age of 63. The resulting by-election was won by the Labour Party 's Terry Davis . Dance
56-449: A commitment in the 2010 Coalition Agreement to bring into force a power of recall. Following the election and the coalition government's commitment, Zac Goldsmith introduced a series of private members bills for a recall process, none of which were successful. In the aftermath of the 2009 expenses scandal , a number of MPs involved in wrongdoing resigned following related court cases—for example Eric Illsley , whose resignation caused
84-613: 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
112-469: 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
140-499: 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
168-613: A political party, they may act in the interests of that party, subordinate to the other two responsibilities. Recall of MPs Act 2015 The Recall of MPs Act 2015 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes provision for constituents to recall their member of Parliament (MP) and trigger a by-election . It received royal assent on 26 March 2015 after being introduced on 11 September 2014. Unlike recall procedures in some other countries,
196-581: 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
224-467: A similar manner to election polling stations . As with votes in elections, voters are able to sign via post or proxy . Campaigning for or against recalling the MP is regulated by spending restrictions. The petition remains open for six weeks. No ongoing tally is reported by the petitions officer, and it is not revealed whether the required threshold of 10 per cent of eligible voters has been reached until
252-502: 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,
280-414: 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
308-566: The 2011 Barnsley Central by-election , and Denis MacShane , who caused the 2012 Rotherham by-election . Such cases were cited by supporters of recall to allow voters to "sack" MPs who break the rules. In June 2012, the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee published its reports into the recall process, listing twenty conclusions and recommendations which included the views that "a system of full recall may deter MPs from taking decisions that are unpopular locally or unpopular in
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#1732802353371336-657: 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
364-605: 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
392-587: 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
420-585: 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
448-530: 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
476-441: The UK. The Representation of the People Act 1981 disqualifies any person serving a jail sentence for more than a year from being an MP, and thus automatically ejects an MP so jailed. MPs involved in scandals or convicted of lesser crimes could be expelled from their party and pressured to resign , but there was no mechanism to force the exit of an MP prior to a general election. Supporters for introducing recall mechanisms included
504-423: The act does not allow constituents to initiate proceedings. Proceedings are initiated only if an MP is found guilty of wrongdoing fulfilling certain criteria. A petition is successful if at least one in ten voters in the constituency sign. Successful petitions result in the MP vacating the seat, triggering a by-election. Before the passage of the act there were no mechanisms to recall Members of Parliament (MPs) in
532-407: The close of the petition period. During the petition period the MP remains in office. If the petition is successful the seat becomes vacant and by-election procedures begin. The recalled MP is permitted to stand in the by-election. If the MP vacates the seat, or a general election is called, the recall is halted and the petition ends. The Electoral Commission reviewed the processes involved in
560-519: The conditions outlined in the act is fulfilled, the Speaker informs the petitions officer of the constituency; in most cases this would be the returning officer or acting returning officer. The petitions officer is then required to make the practical arrangements for the petition so as to open the proceedings within ten working days after the Speaker's notification. This involves selecting up to ten signing locations where petitioners can sign in person, in
588-404: The constituency to the MP's constituents for ratification, approval by 10 per cent of the registered electors triggering the loss of the MP's seat and a by-election. Section 15 confirms that the seat becomes vacant if the petition is successful, if it has not already been vacated by disqualification or death, or otherwise. Sections 16–22 make further provisions, including prohibiting forecasts of
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#1732802353371616-430: The final stage of debate on the bill in the Commons, opponents of the recall process pressed for assurances that voters could not begin recall petitions on the basis of views held or speeches made. Labour MP Geraint Davies said that misuse of the process would be an "intrinsic corruption of our democracy". Labour MP Frank Dobson opposed recall as a threat to "hinder social progress" by "vested interests". Opponents of
644-401: The outcome of active recall petitions which are based on statements from or surveys of potential signatories. If an MP has been convicted of a criminal offence which would make them eligible for recall, they are not subject to recall until all of their appeals have been exhausted. In such a case, the courts are obliged to inform the Speaker of any progress made during the appeal. Once one of
672-689: The pressure group 38 Degrees and the National Union of Students . In 2009, a proposed Lords amendment to the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 would have made the Electoral Commission carry out a review into developing a recall mechanism; the amendment was defeated. A Ten Minute Rule bill was introduced by Douglas Carswell later that year with the aim of introducing both recall and primary elections for candidates; it did not progress. The UK government gave
700-410: The process further worried that MPs "in fear" of being recalled would increase the number of "automatons and lobby fodder" in the Commons. Section 1 sets out the circumstances in which the Speaker of the House of Commons – or, in certain cases, their deputies – would trigger the recall process: Sections 7–11 outline the procedure whereby the petition is forwarded by the electoral returning officer for
728-591: The short-term, but which are in the long-term national interest", "[w]e note that expulsion would not prevent the person concerned standing in the resulting by-election. We recommend that the Government abandon its plans to introduce a power of recall", and "We have not seen enough evidence to support the suggestion that it will increase public confidence in politics, and fear that the restricted form of recall proposed could even reduce confidence by creating expectations that are not fulfilled." In October 2014, during
756-409: The unsuccessful 2018 recall petition, as well as in the two successful recalls in 2019. They found that the three petitions had been carried out effectively and there were no significant problems or indications of fraud, but they identified a number of practical challenges linked to the availability of signing places, the length of the recall period, and the transparency of the process. In addition to
784-866: Was married to Charlotte Strutt until her death; they had one child. He then remarried, to Anne Walker, and they had three children. This article about a Conservative Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom representing an English constituency and born in the 1900s 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
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