MPs are members of the House of Commons in the British bicameral legislative system, elected democratically to serve four to five-year terms. Candidates must be over 18, mentally healthy, and not bankrupt or subject to certain legal actions. Dissolutions take place at five-year intervals, and a speaker is elected to oversee meetings. MPs cannot officially resign but can apply for a position to serve the Crown, allowing them to effectively resign.
In Great Britain, a member of Parliament is known as an MP. Specifically, MPs are members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the British bicameral legislative system. They are elected democratically by the residents of the boroughs they represent and, once elected, serve four to five-year terms in Westminster, acting as legislators and representing the interests of the British people.
To serve as an MP, someone must be over 18 and a British citizen or citizen of a Commonwealth nation. It also must not be bankrupt or subject to certain legal actions. Some people are disqualified from running for the House of Commons because of their positions; currently serving military personnel and some Crown officials, for example, may not stand for election. Furthermore, a parliamentarian must be mentally healthy.
Candidates wishing to stand as a deputy generally stand under the patronage of a specific political party and are required to present documents indicating their intention to stand. Political campaigns by MPs typically include advertisements, public events, debates and other schemes to bring them into the public eye. Many MPs have some sort of experience working with the law or in government, although this is not required.
The term of office of a deputy in Parliament is generally around five years. Traditionally, Parliament is dissolved by the Monarch in cooperation with the Prime Minister in order to hold an election for new Members of Parliament to enter. Under British law, a parliament cannot hold office for more than five years, so usually these dissolutions take place at five-year intervals. When the House of Commons meets at the start of a new term, a speaker is elected to oversee their meetings and usually serves a full five-year term.
The British legislature is extremely complex and has a number of interesting quirks. For example, an MP cannot officially resign from the House of Commons once he has agreed to serve in a constituency. However, when an MP needs to leave office, he can engage in a legal pretence by applying for a position to serve the Crown which will exempt the MP from service in the House of Commons. Two Crown positions are typically used for this purpose: Steward and Bailiff of the Crown of the Manor of Northstead and Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds. These positions are sinecure, in the sense that the incumbent does not have to do any work, but as they would create a conflict of interest with serving in Parliament, they effectively allow an MP to resign.
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