Why would an elected (absentionist) Sinn Féin MP resign from the House of Commons?

Question

I came across the List of by-elections in the UK and noticed that there was a by-election in West Tyrone in 2018. Nothing unusual about that except that the seat was won by Sinn Féin in the 2017 general election and the incumbent resigned (in UK legal fiction: was appointed Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds—an even more amusing side-fact!) in the aftermath of a social media scandal.

Sinn Féin are by default absentionist so Barry McElduff never actually sat in Westminster. While I would perfectly understand a politician resigning if they were doing day to day parliamentary work it seems entirely pointless for somebody who is not. In effect, McElduff lost nothing by resigning. While Sinn Féin did hold on to the seat, they could have lost the by-election meaning an MP would go to Westminster for West Tyrone which would run contrary to their abstentionist policy so even they had something to lose.

Thus why would an absentionist Sinn Féin MP even bother resigning?

Answer 1

Simply because continuing would reflect badly on him and by extension, Sinn Fein. By resigning the damage was limited.

As an aside, as resignation is actually not possible, I note that he used the usual mechanism of accepting (just for the purposes of disqualification) a paid position from the monarch, something slightly amusing in context.

Answer 2

We'll put aside the technicality that one does not resign from the House of Commons, but rather disqualifies oneself from eligibility to sit. But that's separate from your question.

There is more to Parliamentary work than sitting in the Chamber and passing through the division lobbies (as important as those are).

Much of the work of an MP will also involve casework within their constituencies. They will still forward concerns from their constituents to the relevant government minister, and assist constituents in their dealings with the government. In 2011, MPs told the BBC that they spend more of their time on casework than on anything else. Sinn Féin MPs would still be expected to do this casework, even if they don't speak in the Commons or vote in the division lobbies.

Answer 3

Gerry Adams did the same when he resigned from his Westminster seat of West Belfast, and from the Northern Ireland Assembly, in order to stand for election to the Dail. He said in November 2010:

I have a choice to make whether to stay in west Belfast, a place that I love, or to seek a mandate in another constituency in the south.

The chain of reasoning was that he wanted to be in the Dail in order to address issues relating to the whole island of Ireland; being a Westminster MP did not let him sit there, so he needed an electoral mandate from somewhere in the south. Had he retained his MLA seat, he'd be actively responsible for two constituencies at once (as TD and as MLA), even if he stood down as an MP. While he might retain some nominal clout by having an MP title, it seems he thought it would make more sense to try to pass that to a fellow party member who'd still be active in the West Belfast community. Neither of them would be going to the House of Commons chamber, but Sinn Fein has long held a policy of "active abstention" where they make the most of being visible community representatives, without taking their seats formally. (Indeed, a policy very much associated with Adams himself.)

Answer 4

His Wikipedia page actually gives more of an answer:

On 5 January 2018, McElduff tweeted a video of himself in a shop with a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head, asking where the shop kept its bread. As it coincided with the 42nd anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre—where republicans murdered ten Protestant civilians—unionists accused him of mocking the massacre and the video was widely criticised, including by nationalists. Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster said "mocking is depraved" and called the video "inhuman".[8] McElduff deleted it and apologised, saying he was not alluding to the massacre and offering to meet the victims' families.[8][9][10] On 8 January, Sinn Féin apologised for McElduff's actions, condemned the video,[11] and suspended him from Sinn Féin for three months.[12] McElduff announced on 15 January that he was resigning his seat.[13] On 16 January the Chancellor of the Exchequer appointed Barry McElduff as the Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern, an office of profit under the Crown which causes the holder's parliamentary seat to be vacated.[14]

(Bold and italics mine for emphasis)

From what it says here, the party wasn't happy with his actions - although it is a non-post in Westminster, the party would presumably still have its influence over its MPs. Someone who understands how parties functions better than I should either answer or edit this for more in-depth understanding of that pressure.