Double Dipping

A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if someone who is already mayor of a town or city councillor becomes elected as MP or senator at the national or state legislature and retains both positions, this is a dual mandate.

Political and legal approaches toward dual mandate-holding vary widely. In some countries, dual mandates are a well-established part of the political culture; in others they may be prohibited by law. For example, in federal states, federal office holders are often not permitted to hold state office. In most states, membership of an independent judiciary or civil service generally disqualifies a person from simultaneously holding office in the executive or the legislature. In states with a presidential or dualist-parliamentary system of government, members of the executive cannot simultaneously be members of the legislature and vice versa. In states with bicameral legislatures, one usually cannot simultaneously be a member of both houses. The holder of one office who wins election or appointment to another where a dual mandate is prohibited must either resign the former office or refuse the new one.

European Parliament

A member of the European Parliament (MEP) may not be a member of the national legislature of a member state. This dates from a 2002 European Union decision, which came into effect at the 2004 European elections in most member states, at the 2007 national election in the Republic of Ireland, and at the 2009 European elections in the United Kingdom.

Originally, MEPs were nominated by national parliamentarians from among their own membership. Prior to the first direct elections in 1979, the dual mandate was discussed. Some advocated banning it, arguing that MEPs who were national MPs were often absent from one assembly in order to attend the other (indeed, the early death of Peter Michael Kirk was blamed by his election agent on overwork resulting from his dual mandate). Others claimed that members with a dual mandate enhanced communication between national and European assemblies. There was a particular interest in the dual mandate question in Denmark: Eurosceptic Danish Social Democrats supported a compulsory dual mandate, to ensure that the state's MEPs expressed the same views as the national legislature, and the government of Denmark supported a compulsory dual mandate when the other eight member states supported an optional dual mandate. However, a 1976 European Parliament law preparing for the 1979 elections expressly permitted a dual mandate. In 1978 the German politician Willy Brandt suggested that one third of MEPs should be national MPs.

Australia

Dual mandates are rare in Australia. It is not permitted to be a member of any state parliament and the Australian Parliament simultaneously. A member of a state parliament seeking federal office must resign before seeking election to the Federal Parliament. It is possible but unusual to be a member of a local government and another parliament. A recent example is Dr Kerryn Phelps who maintained her position as a Councillor on the City of Sydney Council while sitting in Federal Parliament as the Member for Wentworth between 2018 and 2019.

Ben Chifley, prime minister from 1945 to 1949, was a long-serving member of the Abercrombie Shire Council in regional New South Wales. He continued to attend council meetings after his appointment as prime minister. However, he was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1947, receiving 220 votes on a turnout of less than 900 voters.

In 2004 Clover Moore became the independent member for Sydney in the NSW Parliament without resigning as Lord Mayor of Sydney. The issue of Moore holding both positions had brought the issue to the forefront in Australia and led the premier of New South Wales in 2012 to propose a new law, dubbed in the media as the "Get Clover bill", which banned this dual mandate. The proposed law was adopted and in September 2012 Moore resigned her state seat soon after she was reelected as mayor.

Belgium

As in neighboring France, the culture of dual mandates is very strong in Belgium and that country currently has one of the highest percentage of dual mandate holders (MPs, aldermen, municipal councilors) in the world. During the 2003–2009 period, 87.3% of members of the Walloon (French-speaking) Parliament held dual mandates, followed by 86.5% in the Flemish (Dutch-speaking) Parliament, 82.0% in the Chamber of Representatives (the Federal lower house) and 68.9% in the Senate. During that same period, 76.5% of all European Parliament MPs from Belgium held dual mandates.

More than one-fifth of all Belgian MPs were mayor at the same time with, by far, by the highest proportion (40%) to be found in the Walloon Parliament.

Canada

In Canada dual mandates are rare and are frequently barred by legislation at the federal, provincial, or territorial level. At the federal level, section 39 of the Constitution Act, 1867 prevents a Senator from being elected as a Member of Parliament; similarly, s. 65(c) of the Canada Elections Act makes members of provincial or territorial legislatures ineligible to be candidates to the House of Commons. At the provincial level, the situation varies from one province to another.

In most circumstances, an elected official almost always resigns their first post when elected to another. Dual representation has occurred occasionally when the member was elected to a second office shortly before their other term of office was due to expire anyway and whereby the short time frame would not merit the cost of a special by-election. In 1996, for example, Jenny Kwan continued to be a Vancouver city councillor after being elected to the provincial legislature. The British Columbia legislature had debated a "Dual Elected Office Prohibition Act" which failed to pass second reading. In 2024, Misty Van Popta continued serving as a Langley Township city council member after being elected an MLA for Langley-Walnut Grove and in 2025 Chak Au, stayed on as a Richmond City Councillor after being elected an Member of Parliament for Richmond Centre—Marpole stating that he didn't want to trigger a by-election that cost money and that he would still participate in City Council meetings and donate his salary to charities.

In the first few years after Confederation in 1867, however, double mandates were common. In the first House of Commons, there were fifteen Members of Parliament from Quebec who simultaneously held seats in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, including the Premier Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau. There were also four members of Parliament from Ontario who also held seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, including the first two Premiers, John Sandfield Macdonald and Edward Blake. Other prominent federal politicians with double mandates included George-Étienne Cartier, Christopher Dunkin, Hector Langevin, the second Premier of British Columbia Amor de Cosmos, and two members from Manitoba, Donald Smith and Pierre Delorme. Another famous example is that of the ''de facto'' leader of the Liberals, George Brown, who ran for both federal and provincial seats in 1867. Brown lost both elections, and soon thereafter began campaigning for the prohibition of double mandates.

The double mandate was prohibited from the start in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; it was abolished in Ontario in 1872, in Manitoba in 1873, and in 1873 the federal parliament passed a law against it; Quebec passed its own law abolishing it in 1874.

However, dual mandates within a province remained legal. From 1867 to 1985, 305 mayors were also members of the Quebec legislative assembly (MLA). The two best-known cases were those of S.N. Parent who was simultaneously mayor of Quebec City (1894–1906), MLA and Premier of Quebec (1900–1905). Longtime Montreal Mayor Camilien Houde (1928–32, 1938–40) was also simultaneously MLA for a total of 2 /1/2 years during his mandates as mayor. However, that type of dual mandate had virtually ceased when laws adopted in 1978 and 1980 prohibited MNAs from holding any local mandate.

Finland

It is common for the MPs of the Finnish Parliament to hold a mandate as a member of their local municipal council as well. 79 percent of MPs elected to parliament in 2011 were also municipal council members.

France

The ''cumul des mandats'' (, ''accumulation of mandates'') is a common practice in the Fifth French Republic (1958–present). It consists of simultaneously holding two or more elective offices at different levels of government — local, regional, national and European — as mayors, MPs, senators, Members of the European Parliament, and President of the General Council in their home regions. Sometimes, officials hold as many as four positions. While officials may not be elected to more than one office at the same level (such as being both an MP and a senator), they may hold offices in any combination at the municipal, departmental, regional, national and European levels. The ''cumul des mandats'' is controversial in France, being accused of fostering absenteeism and cronyism.

Several laws to limit the practice have been introduced in recent decades. By far the most coveted local mandate is that of mayor, traditionally a highly prestigious function in France.

A hotly debated law to prohibit all dual mandates, to take effect in 2017, was adopted in July 2013. Following the adoption of the law, former President Sarkozy and other members of the opposition UMP party have declared that if elected in 2017, their party would revise or even revoke that law. Many Socialist Party MPs and senators have also expressed their unease with the law imposed by President Hollande and might welcome a review of the law. In the meantime, the ubiquitous 'député-maire' (MP and mayor) and 'sénateur-maire' are still familiar figures of the French political scene.

Conditions regarding multiple mandates in France

* The President of the Republic cannot hold any other office during their tenure.
** However, Presidents do ''ex officio'' hold the office of Co-Prince in the neighboring microstate of Andorra, a role and title they share with the Bishop of Urgell, a sort of viceroy, to Andorra to act on their behalf.

Multiple mandates at the legislative level

Parliamentary mandates are incompatible with each other:

*Member of the National Assembly of France
*Member of the Senate of France
*Member of the European Parliament

The 2022 election in Pas-de-Calais's 8th Assembly constituency was annulled because the winner's substitute was already substitute for a senator.

A member from one of the above assemblies cannot combine its mandate with more than one of the following mandates:

*Member, vice-president or president of a General Council
*Member, vice-president or president of a Regional Council
*Councillor, deputy-mayor, or mayor of a commune of more than 3,500 inhabitants
*Councillor of Paris (The "Council of Paris" is at the same level a municipal council and a general council, because Paris has a special status, municipality and département at the same level)
*Councillor in the Corsican Assembly (Corse has a regional special status)

Exceptions: They can hold a third office in a town of less than 3,500 inhabitants.

They may also hold a third office as a councillor, vice-president or president of an urban community, an agglomeration community or a ''communauté de communes'', as these terms are elected by indirect universal suffrage, by municipal councils from among the councillors.

For example, a member of the National Assembly has the right to be general/regional councillor or President of a regional/general council. They cannot hold a third office unless they are the mayor, deputy mayor or municipal councillor of a city of less than 3,500 inhabitants.

In 2008, 85% of members of parliament held multiple posts Following the June 2012 legislative elections, it was still the case that 75% of all National Assembly members (438 deputies out of 577) held a double mandate (often as mayor of a mid- to large-size city) and 33 have four mandates. In August 2013, out of 348 senators, 152 are also mayors.

The accumulation of local mandates

They cannot have more than two local mandates.

The following mandates are incompatible each other:

*Mayor
*President of the General Council
* President of the Regional Council

For example, an elected official cannot be mayor and president of the Regional Council. However, all other local mandates are cumulative. A mayor can also be a general councillor and a president of a Regional Council can also be deputy-mayor of a city.

Exceptions are the same as those for parliamentarians (Cities of less than 3,500 inhabitants and the intercommunalities)

The accumulation of mandates and governmental functions

A member of the French government cannot be a member of any assembly. However, the member of government may retain any local mandate they hold. A cabinet minister can exercise a maximum of two local mandates in addition to their government function.

For example, the prime minister, a minister or secretary of state can be mayor, or president of a general, regional or intercommunal council or sit in one of these assemblies.

Currently, over two-thirds of the members of the French government are engaged in one or two more local mandates.

Purpose and frequency

The rationales for holding multiple offices are varied. Holding a seat in the Senate, National Assembly, or European Parliament gives local mayors a valuable method of tapping funds to develop their home cities and regions.Gildea, pg. 240 It also can give opportunities to curry favor with other important officials, with opportunities at each level.Nadeau and Barlow, pg. 56 Salaries for positions can be combined (to a point) as well. For politicians with national ambitions, retaining a position in a local town can give them a down-to-earth aura that can appeal to voters. These advantages have made politicians very wary of reducing the practice of the ''cumul'' with legislation despite other moves to end perceptions of favoritism and corruption among politicians.

It has been common practice in France since the Third Republic (1870). But there are also many cases of "cumul" before this period, for example, the writer Alexis de Tocqueville was a member from 1839 to 1851. In 1849 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and at the same time he was elected President of the General Council of Manche from 1849 to 1851 (councillor from 1842 to 1852).

There are several reasons for this phenomenon, and one of them is that France has a long tradition of centralization, compared to countries such as Germany, Italy, and Spain. Local governments have fewer powers and resources than those possessed by the ''Länder'' of Germany, or Autonomous Communities of Spain. The local mandates in France are less important than in other countries, and therefore politicians have more time to devote to a parliamentary mandate.

The ''cumul'' is a widespread practice and has grown much more prevalent in modern France. In 1946, 36 percent of deputies in the National Assembly held an additional office. By 1956, this number had already increased to 42 percent and by 1970, 70 percent of deputies held an additional elected office; in 1988, 96 percent did.

Many of the most prominent politicians in France make use or have made use of the ''cumul''. Jacques Chirac served as Mayor of Paris between 1977 and 1995. During this same time, Chirac also served as a deputy in the National Assembly from Corrèze, briefly as Member of the European Parliament, and even as Prime Minister between 1986 and 1988. Former Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy served concurrently as mayor of Nevers and deputy of Nièvre

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