Petition · past parliament
Elected officials who resign from their party must stand for by-election
Rejected
13 signatures
What the petition asks
There have been numerous occasions where representatives of a political party have resigned from that party, but have remained in the elected post. This practice should cease and in future any such resignation should automatically trigger a by-election.
If a Councillor, MP or MEP is elected for a term of office on behalf of a political party, and during that term they resign from that party, at present there is no legal requirement to also resign from their office. In some cases said officials will continue as independents, in some cases they will switch parties entirely.
It should be a legal requirement that in such cases a by-election is automatically triggered to ensure that the people are not deprived of the representation they vote for.
It should be a legal requirement that in such cases a by-election is automatically triggered to ensure that the people are not deprived of the representation they vote for.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
Timeline
| 14 May 2019 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 14 Jun 2019 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
13
Status
Rejected
Rejected
14 Jun 2019
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.