Parliamentarians and Bankruptcy: The Disqualification of MPs and Peers from Sitting in the Palace of Westminster

A significant legal shift has occurred regarding the disqualification of bankrupt parliamentarians from sitting in the Palace of Westminster. Previously, simply being declared bankrupt was sufficient to trigger parliamentary exclusion under English and Welsh law. However, recent amendments—particularly the introduction of section 426A of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA86) and changes via the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA2002)—now require additional conditions such as a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (BRO), Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking (BRU), or Debt Relief Restriction Order (DRO) for disqualification. This reform, driven by policy aims to reduce automatic restrictions on bankrupt individuals, narrows the scope of parliamentary exclusion while maintaining its application in cases involving more stringent financial oversight measures.

Tribe, J. (2014). Parliamentarians and Bankruptcy: The Disqualification of MPs and Peers from Sitting in the Palace of Westminster. King’s Law Journal, 25(1), 79–101. https://doi.org/10.5235/09615768.25.1.79