Chiltern Hundreds

American  

[chil-tern] / ˈtʃɪl tərn /

plural noun

British.

1. certain crown lands, the stewardship of which is nominally bestowed on a member of the House of Commons to provide an excuse to resign, as members are not allowed to hold titular office from the crown.

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idioms

1. to apply for the Chiltern Hundreds, to resign or express a desire to resign from the House of Commons.

Chiltern Hundreds British  

plural noun

1. (in Britain) short for Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds ; a nominal office that an MP applies for in order to resign his seat

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Example Sentences

MPs are not technically allowed to resign and instead have to be appointed either Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, or of the Manor of Northstead, as Mr Benton has been, on an alternating basis.

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2024

I shall today inform the chancellor of my intention to take the Chiltern Hundreds, enabling the writ to be moved on 4 September for the by-election you are so desperately seeking to take place.

From BBC • Aug. 26, 2023

Mr. Low had urged him again and again, and had prevailed so far that Phineas, before he left the house, had promised to consider that suicidal expedient of the Chiltern Hundreds.

From Phineas Finn The Irish Member by Trollope, Anthony

The election of a member of Parliament for the county of Argyll, in the room of Alexander Campbell, Esq., of Monzie, who has accepted the Chiltern Hundreds, took place at Inverary on Friday week.

From The Economist Volume 1, No. 3 by Wilson, James

I immediately resolved to resign my seat, and accept the Chiltern Hundreds.

From Diary And Notes Of Horace Templeton, Esq. Volume I (of II) by Lever, Charles James