Petition · past parliament

Automatic by-election if an MP resigns or is sacked from their political party.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

If a Member of Parliament decides to leave or is sacked from the party they were elected under, then they should be required by law to call a by-election and stand as an independent or for another party if they wish to remain a sitting MP.
Previous reply from the government was the following "Formally, electors cast their vote for individual candidates, and not the political party they represent. The Government does not plan to change this constitutional position."

This is not the case, we don't have a choice if our MP's support brexit or remain, people vote for the party manifesto. We have now seen MP's switching parties or not supporting the manifesto they were elected on which puts the British parliamentary system to shame.

Why it was rejected

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

Timeline

17 Sep 2019 Petition opened for signatures
20 Sep 2019 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 20 Sep 2019

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