The British House of Commons has been called the Best Club in town,

The British House of Commons has been called the Best Club in Town

due to the fact that there's a 1,000 gallon vat of Scotch

whiskey located in the cellar. However, I prefer to think of it more as a Roach

motel because technically once you're elected to Parliament you can't leave.

Actually, it's illegal to resign from the House of Commons.

Yet seemingly people do it all the time. Learn more about the convoluted way you can

quit the House of Commons on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. So to start, yeah, it is technically true you can't resign from the House of Commons.

This dates back almost 400 years when serving in Parliament was a very different experience

than it is today.

Members of Parliament, or MPs, didn't even get paid until 1911. Up until then it was a completely unpaid position.

Traveling to London back then was a time-consuming affair, especially for MPs who lived in distant districts.

Even though Parliament only met for a few weeks a year.

The time of the session, plus travel time, was time you couldn't spend attending to your

personal affairs, which meant that many MPs lost money.

Most MPs considered serving in Parliament an arduous task and not an honor.

So when the session of Parliament came around every year, many members would just

resign rather than make the trip, especially considering that many were elected

against their will. It became such a problem that Parliament passed a law in 1624 which prevented members from resigning.

The law specified that quote that a man after he is duly chosen cannot relinquish his position. That law from 1624 is still

on the books and it is still against a law for anyone to resign from the House of Commons.

The thing is, MPs seemingly resign from Parliament every session.

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