Petition · past parliament · Cabinet Office

Change the process that when a Prime Minister resigns,a general election is held

Closed 122 signatures

What the petition asks

Within the past few years, we have had a lot of Prime Minister resignations, from different parties. Then the new PM is voted in by a minority of people, being those in their own party. I would like to see a general election called when a PM resigns to allow the public to decide on a new PM.
Too often, a resignation as a PM means very little, as the MP still holds sway within their own party and know that many of the things they’ve started cannot be changed. If there were the looming possibility of another party having one of their MPs as a PM, this would stop abrupt resignations as this would need to be factored in. This would also allow the public a chance to look at different views and have a vote on who is running the country, rather than a small section of MPs voting on this.

Timeline

1 Oct 2020 Petition opened for signatures
1 Apr 2021 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 122
Status Closed
Department Cabinet Office
Opened 1 Oct 2020
Closed 1 Apr 2021

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