Members of Parliament holding dual mandates

A dual mandate refers to elected representatives holding seats in more than one elected body at the same time.

There have been members of the House of Commons who have also held seats in the European Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru / National Assembly for Wales.

In 2014 the UK Government introduced a ban on members of the House of Commons holding a dual mandate with the then National Assembly for Wales, under Section 3 of the Wales Act 2014 (unless an existing Senedd member is elected an MP within 372 days of an expected Senedd election). Under Section 3 of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 MPs were banned entirely from holding dual mandates with the Northern Ireland Assembly. In either case Members have eight days to choose which seat they wish to retain.

Before the introduction of direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, members were appointed as delegates by member states’ national parliaments. Consequently, all UK MEPs between 1973 and the first direct elections to the European Parliament in June 1979 had a dual mandate. The European Parliament introduced a rule requiring any MEP serving in a national parliament to resign as an MEP in 2004, with a limited exemption for serving MEPs until 2009. The UK withdrew from the EU on 31st January 2020, ending British representation in the European Parliament.

It remains possible for members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to also be members of the House of Commons.

There are currently no MPs holding dual mandates in the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament.

The downloadable Excel file lists MPs who also held seats in the European Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru / National Assembly for Wales since the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973. Source details are available in the Excel file.

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