The post is ancient and the duties are light — nonexistent, actually. However, to step down from his seat in the House of Commons, former British prime minister David Cameron had to take on another position on Monday: Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.
Under arcane parliamentary rules, normally referred to as “taking the Chiltern Hundreds,” the purely symbolic appointment provides a legal escape hatch from the House of Commons by disqualifying lawmakers from holding their seats. Embracing the role has helped many lawmakers bring down the curtain on their careers without waiting for the next election. In this case, it is formally closing out a political rise and fall defined by Cameron’s decision to stage a referendum on EU membership.
Cameron resigned as prime minister in June after failing to persuade Britons to vote to remain inside the bloc. Monday’s announcement means that he is also to relinquish his parliamentary seat in Witney, Oxfordshire. The seat is to be filled by a special election.
“In my view, with modern politics, with the circumstances of my resignation, it isn’t really possible to be a proper backbench MP as a former prime minister,” Cameron told ITV News. “I think everything you do will become a big distraction and a big diversion from what the government needs to do for our country.”
Cameron, 49, had a swift rise through the ranks of British politics. He won his seat in parliament in 2001, becoming Conservative Party leader in 2005 and prime minister in 2010, at the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. His administration faced the formidable task of stabilizing the economy after the financial crisis, making cuts to public spending in the process.
Among the biggest changes ushered in by his government was the legalization of same-sex marriage.
In last year’s general election, Cameron led the Conservatives to an outright majority in the House of Commons, but he had little time to enjoy that victory, having promised in 2013 to hold a referendum on leaving the EU by the end of next year. Analysts saw the promise at the time as a way of papering over divisions within the Conservative Party, and of reducing the electoral threat to it from the right-wing populist UK Independence Party, which campaigned for a British exit.
Cameron favored remaining in Europe, and when he lost the referendum his position as prime minister became untenable.
On Monday, British Prime Minister Theresa May paid tribute to him.
She said in a statement that she was “proud” to have served in Cameron’s government, which, she said, had achieved “great things” by stabilizing the economy and “making great strides in delivering serious social reforms.”
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