List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service explained

This is an annotated list of the members of the United Kingdom Parliament since 1900 having total service of less than 365 days.

Nominal service is the number of days that elapsed between the declaration (or deemed election) and the date of death, defeat, disqualification, resignation or other cause of termination.

Effective service is the number of days elapsed between taking the oath as a member of Parliament (if the member did so) and the date of death, resignation, disqualification or dissolution of Parliament. In other words, this number is the maximum number of days the member could have sat in Parliament, whether or not they actually did so.

This list includes Irish Republican MPs who were elected but did not serve in the House of Commons due to their abstentionist policy.

List

Member	Party	Constituency	Election date	Nominal service (days)	Took the Oath	Maiden speech	Effective service (days)	Notes
		North Galway, 1906		0	N	N	0	Died
	Labour	Smethwick, 1945		1	N	N	0	Died
	Liberal	East Aberdeenshire, 1906		16	N	N	0	Died
		April 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election		25	N	N	0	Died
	Conservative	Leyton West, 1918		32	N	N	0	Died
	Labour	Newcastle East, 1922		32	N	N	0	Died
	Conservative	1905 New Forest by-election		46	N	N	0	Defeated at next general election
	Irish Unionist	North Londonderry, 1918		47		N	3	Resigned
	Labour	May 1990 Bootle by-election		57			45	Died
	Conservative	Aberdeen and Kincardine Central, 1918		68		N	29	Died
	Sinn Féin	East Tipperary, 1918		68	N	N	0	Died
	Liberal	1945 Middlesbrough West by-election		73		N	31	Defeated at next general election
	Labour	1983 Darlington by-election		77			45	Defeated at next general election
	Conservative	1909 Bermondsey by-election		83		N	70	Defeated at next general election
	Labour	Whitechapel and St. George's, 1922		85		N	48	Died
Seaborne Davies	Liberal	1945 Caernarvon Boroughs by-election		91			45	Defeated at next general election
	Labour	1929 Bishop Auckland by-election		92			87	Retired at next general election
	SNP			92			78	Defeated at next general election
Joseph Ormond Andrews	Liberal	1905 Barkston Ash by-election		97	N	N	0	Defeated at next general election
	Liberal Democrats	2019 Brecon and Radnorshire by-election	[1]	97	[2]	[3]	64	Defeated at next general election[4]
	SNP			104			59	Defeated at next general election
	Conservative	1918 Canterbury by-election		113		N	41	Retired at next general election
	Labour	1931 Gateshead by-election		121			118	Died
	Irish Unionist	February 1922 North Down by-election		121			119	Assassinated
	Labour	Preston, 1945		121			114	Died
	Ulster Unionist			123		N	105	Disqualified
	Conservative	Worcester, 1906		128	Y	N	100 (approximately)	Unseated
	Liberal	Exeter, Dec 1910		129	Y		55 (approximately)	Unseated
	Labour	Heywood and Radcliffe, 1945		136			129	Died (suicide)
	Liberal	Cheltenham, Dec 1910		144		N	68	Unseated
	Conservative	Wakefield, 1931		144		N	136	Died
	Liberal	1918 Finsbury East by-election		151			131	Defeated at next general election
	Irish Unionist	1921 South Londonderry by-election		152	Y			Died
Philip Clarke	Sinn Féin	Fermanagh and South Tyrone, 1955		152	N	N	0	Unseated
Thomas Mitchell	Sinn Féin	Mid-Ulster, 1955		152	N	N	0	Disqualified
	Labour		[5]	153	[6]	[7]	149	Defeated at next general election[8]
	Liberal Democrats	1991 Kincardine and Deeside by-election		154			125	Defeated at next general election
	Labour			159			127	Defeated at next general election
	Ind. Nationalist	East Kerry, Jan 1910		170	Y	N	140 (approximately)	Unseated
	Conservative	Bothwell, 1918		176			137	Died
	Conservative	Tiverton, 1922		188			182	Died
Helen McElhone	Labour	1982 Glasgow Queen's Park by-election		189			156	Retired at next general election
	National Liberal	Berwick-on-Tweed, 1922		197		N	168	Unseated
	Liberal	Saffron Walden, 1900		200			148	Died
	Liberal	January 1918 Prestwich by-election		202		N	63	Killed in action World War I
	Liberal National	1935 Perth by-election		212		N	176	Retired at next general election
	Liberal	1973 Ripon by-election		217			115	Defeated at next general election
	Ind. Nationalist	Cork North-East, Dec 1910		220	Y		160 (approximately)	Resigned
	Sinn Féin	West Tyrone, 2017		222	N	N	0	Resigned
	Ulster Unionist	Fermanagh and South Tyrone, February 1974		224			191	Defeated at next general election
	Conservative	Leeds Central, 1922		229		N	223	Died
	Conservative			231			206	Defeated at next general election
	Liberal	1918 Keighley by-election		232			210	Defeated at next general election
	Ulster Unionist	Belfast West, 1950		238			128	Disqualified
	Irish Unionist	1921 West Down by-election		239	Y			Resigned
	Liberal	1910 Mid Glamorgan by-election		253		N	238	Retired at next general election
	Independent	February 1920 The Wrekin by-election		261			245	Died
	Ulster Unionist	1922 West Down by-election		271			238	Retired at next general election
	Labour	Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, 2015		273			260	Died
	Labour	1935 Liverpool Wavertree by-election		281			256	Defeated at next general election
	Liberal	1944 Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election		282			239	Defeated at next general election
, VC	Conservative	1944 Chelsea by-election		288			241	Succeeded to the peerage
	Labour	Clay Cross, 1935		290			277	Died
	National	February 1940 Southampton by-election		293		N	258	Elevated to the peerage
	Liberal Democrats	2004 Leicester South by-election		294			261	Defeated at next general election
	Ulster Unionist	1922 South Londonderry by-election		301			260	Retired at next general election
	Conservative	1944 Bilston by-election		309			262	Defeated at next general election
	Conservative	1963 Dumfriesshire by-election		309			283	Retired at next general election
22 MPs who only sat in the February–November 1910 Parliament	various	various	various between 14 January and 9 February 1910	various	various	various	286
	Conservative	Newbury, 1992		316			296	Died
64 MPs who only sat in the January–October 1924 Parliament	various	various		328	various	various	275
	Ulster Unionist	1950 Belfast West by-election		330			304	Defeated at next general election
	Liberal	1928 Carmarthen by-election		336		N?	311	Defeated at next general election
	Conservative	Galloway, 1924		340			305	Died
	Irish Unionist	Galway Borough, 1900		342			278	Succeeded to the peerage
	Conservative	2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election		351			268	Defeated at next general election
	Independent	Blaenau Gwent, 2005		355			344	Died
	Liberal	1969 Birmingham Ladywood by-election		357			330	Defeated at next general election
	Labour	1973 Dundee East by-election		364			339	Defeated at next general election
51 MPs who only sat in the November 1922 – November 1923 Parliament	various	various		386	various	various	361

See also

• Records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom
• United Kingdom general election records
• United Kingdom by-election records
• List of Stewards of the Manor of Northstead
• List of UK parliamentary election petitions
• List of Welsh AMs/MSs with the shortest service
• List of members of the United States House of Representatives who served a single term

External links

• Maiden Speeches, 1979 Onwards – Parliament Information list
• Maiden Speeches, 1945–-1979 – Parliament Information list
• Hansard – Millbank Systems

Notes and References

1. Web site: Parliamentary Election for the BRECON & RADNORSHIRE Constituency – 1st August 2019 . Powys County Council . 13 December 2019.
2. Web site: NEW MEMBER . Hansard . 13 December 2019.
3. Web site: European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill . Hansard . 13 December 2019.
4. Web site: Parliamentary Election Results for Brecon and Radnorshire Constituency – 12th December 2019 . Powys County Council . 13 December 2019.
5. Web site: Election of a Member of Parliament for Peterborough . Peterborough City Council . 13 December 2019.
6. Web site: New Member . Hansard . 13 December 2019.
7. Web site: Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 3(2) . Hansard . 13 December 2019.
8. Web site: Election of a Member of Parliament for Peterborough . Peterborough City Council . 13 December 2019.