Ministerial by-election.
Prior to 1926, a successful ministerial by-election was required for members of the British House of Commons (pictured) to regain their seats after being made ministers. This requirement originated from 17th-century ideas of parliamentary independence from the Crown, which appoints the ministers; while early attempts were made to fully separate ministers and Parliament in a manner similar to that of the future United States, a compromise was reached instead to merely require new ministers to face a by-election to join Parliament. This by-election was in practice usually, but not always, an uncontested formality, and was gradually reformed before finally being abolished in 1926. Ministerial by-elections spread to British colonies in modern-day Canada and Australia, where they were likewise all abolished by the mid-20th century, ending with Western Australia in 1947; in Canada, they played a major role in the 1926 King–Byng affair before being abolished federally in 1931.
