Petition · past parliament

Automatically trigger a By-Election when a Sitting MP quits a party.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Members of Parliament's are elected with a mandate from their constituents based on the manifesto of the party they represent. When they quit the party while they are a sitting MP, they are no longer in line with their constituents vote and therefore a By-Election should be triggered.
MPs are elected on many accounts which includes them as 1) them as an individual 2) the party they represent and 3) the manifesto the campaign under.

If they quit as a sitting MP because they disagree with the party and their manifesto then they break their campaign promises. It is not what the electorate voted for. As a result, if they quit the party as a sitting MP then a By-Election should automatically be triggered.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

20 Feb 2019 Petition opened for signatures
22 Feb 2019 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 22 Feb 2019

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.