Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament (MP) is the representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this category includes specifically members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members, such as senator.

Members of parliament tend to form parliamentary groups (also called parliamentary parties) with members of the same political party.

Ireland
A Member of Parliament was a member of the pre-1801 Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of Ireland. Irish members elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland were also called Members of Parliament from 1801 to 1922.

Northern Ireland continues to elect MPs to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Following the formation of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, members of the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament), Dáil Éireann (or "the Dáil") are termed Teachtaí Dála (Teachta Dála singular) or TDs and are called a Deputy. The upper house is called Seanad Éireann and its members are called Senators.

Malaysia
The Malaysian Parliament is modelled on the Parliament of the United Kingdom and consists of two houses, the Dewan Rakyat (the House of Representatives) and Dewan Negara (the Senate). A Member of Parliament is called Wakil Rakyat.

The members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected in general elections or by-elections, whereas the members of the Dewan Negara are appointed by the king, in recognition of outstanding service to their country or chosen by the states. Each state appoints a number of senators proportional to its size.

Members of Parliament are styled Yang Berhormat ("Honourable") with the initials Y.B. appended prenominally. A prince who is a member of parliament is styled Yang Berhormat Mulia.

Singapore
Member of Parliament refers to elected members of the Parliament of Singapore, the appointed Non-Constituency members of parliament from the opposition, as well as the Nominated members of parliament, who may be appointed from members of the public who have no connection to any political party in Singapore.

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom contains members of three parliaments:


 * the Parliament of the United Kingdom, with members elected to the (lower) House of Commons, referred to as Members of Parliament, abbreviated to MP;
 * the European Parliament, with members elected for a five-year term, called Members of the European Parliament (MEP);
 * the Scottish Parliament, with members elected every four years, called Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP);

and two assemblies:


 * the Northern Ireland Assembly, with members known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Between 1921 and 1973, Northern Ireland was governed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, whose members were known as Members of Parliament;
 * the National Assembly for Wales, with 60 elected members called Assembly Member (AM) in English, Aelod y Cynulliad (AC) in Welsh.

MPs are elected by the first-past-the-post system of election in general elections and by-elections to represent constituencies, and may remain MPs until Parliament is dissolved, which must occur within five years of the last general election, as laid down in the Parliament Act 1911.

A candidate to become an MP must be a British or Irish or Commonwealth citizen, over 18 (reduced from 21 in 2006), and not be a public official or officeholder, as set out in the schedule to the Electoral Administration Act 2006.

MPs are technically forbidden to resign their seats (though not to refuse to seek re-election). To leave the house between elections voluntarily, an MP must accept a "paid office under the Crown". The Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead are such paid offices, allowing MPs to apply for one and thereby resign from the House. Accepting a salaried Ministerial office does not amount to a paid office under the Crown for these purposes.

The House of Lords is a legislative chamber that is part of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Although they are part of the parliament, its members are referred to as peers, more formally as Lords of Parliament, not MPs. Lords Temporal sit for life, Lords Spiritual while they occupy their ecclesiastical positions. Hereditary peers may no longer pass on a seat in the House of Lords to their heir automatically. The 92 who remain have been elected from among their own number, following the House of Lords Act 1999 and, paradoxically, are the only elected members of the Lords.