Rood Eye
Saturday 15th December 2018 3:23pm [Edited]
4,103 posts
A government minister may resign his position as a government minister (which is what Boris did when he resigned as Foreign Secretary) but no MP is allowed to resign his position as an MP.
If an MP wishes to cease being an MP, he must apply for and be appointed to a position which disqualifies him from simultaneously being an MP.
In times gone by, there were several such positions available but today there are only two:
Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham
and
Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.
If appointed to either position, an MP is disqualified as an MP and must immediately vacate his seat.
The above two positions offer only a tiny income and may be resigned at any time, at which point the officeholder is free to stand for Parliament again if he wishes.