The Student Room Group

"Resigning fixes all"

Why is it that every time MPs don't like something, they resign?

How does this help whatsoever? They lose their job and therefore their influence to actually fix the issue they're so invested in.

Sure, it draws attention to the problem, but it does not help to fix it.

Am I missing something?
Original post by Jackudy3
Why is it that every time MPs don't like something, they resign?

How does this help whatsoever? They lose their job and therefore their influence to actually fix the issue they're so invested in.

Sure, it draws attention to the problem, but it does not help to fix it.

Am I missing something?

Yes, your analysis is rather simplistic - you’re not taking into account the unique environment in which MPs operate.
Reply 2
A cabinet MP cannot vote against their government's wishes and retain their position as a cabinet minister. So, if an MP feels that the government's wishes no longer align with their own, they have a simple choice: abandon their principles and keep their position, or resign from the government in order to vote against the motion(s) in parliament, becoming a backbencher in the process.

Resigning from the government can also be a case of simply disagreeing with the government's general position rather than being about a single vote, which is what we've seen today in the whole Brexit thing: government ministers no longer seeing eye-to-eye with May on Brexit, and in some cases do not want May to remain as PM at all. It would be a conflict of interest for them to remain a part of the government if they do not agree with that government's wishes.
Sometimes resigning is the best mechanism to exert their influence.

Take Tracey Crouch - last week she resigned because the government had delayed their promise to tackle fixed odds betting stakes. Before the end of the week the government returned to their initial plan - what Crouch wanted - because of the attention (and criticism) she brought to the issue.
Reply 4
Original post by Dez
they have a simple choice: abandon their principles and keep their position, or resign from the government in order to vote against the motion(s) in parliament, becoming a backbencher in the process.


So they're specifically resigning from their position in government, and not their role as an MP in Parliament?
Reply 5
Original post by Jackudy3
So they're specifically resigning from their position in government, and not their role as an MP in Parliament?

That's right, yeah. An MP would generally only resign from parliament in circumstances where they can no longer work as a politician - either for personal reasons (sickness, family, etc.), because of some scandal (criminal accusations, improprietry, embezzlement etc.), or another reason like that. It's rare that an MP would leave parliament over a political issue. You can expect the ministers who resigned today to continue operating as MPs for the forseeable future, assuming that a general election doesn't get called I suppose.
Original post by Jackudy3
So they're specifically resigning from their position in government, and not their role as an MP in Parliament?

Yes, no one has resigned as an MP in parliament so far this year. These are all resignations from government or party positions.
Original post by LeapingLucy
Yes, no one has resigned as an MP in parliament so far this year. These are all resignations from government or party positions.


That isn’t true. Heidi Alexander resigned in June on being appointed Deputy Mayor of London. Barry McElduff resigned as a Sinn Fein MP for being nasty to Unionists (how have times changed!).
Original post by nulli tertius
That isn’t true. Heidi Alexander resigned in June on being appointed Deputy Mayor of London. Barry McElduff resigned as a Sinn Fein MP for being nasty to Unionists (how have times changed!).

Silly me! I worked on the Lewisham East by-election so I should have remembered that one!

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