Petition · past parliament
Upon defection of a sitting MP, there should be a by-election within 10 weeks
Rejected
9 signatures
What the petition asks
To make it mandatory for the defection of a sitting MP to automatically trigger a by-election within 10 weeks.
An MP is elected by most people for the party they represent, not for the person. Therefore a defector should be made to see if the people still want that person to represent them.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
We have published the following petition, which you might like to sign:
Mandatory by-election for MPs who resign from their party or lose the whip: Mandatory by-election for MPs who resign from their party or lose the whip
Mandatory by-election for MPs who resign from their party or lose the whip: Mandatory by-election for MPs who resign from their party or lose the whip
Timeline
| 19 Jan 2022 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 24 Jan 2022 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
9
Status
Rejected
Rejected
24 Jan 2022
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.