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Petition · past parliament

Any elected MP who switches party MUST face a bi-election!

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

When an elected official is elected to a seat they are put there by the voters voting for the party of their choice, when that elected official then switches to another political party they are in effect switching voters from a party they voted for to a party they did not.

This is unacceptable
Make it mandatory that any elected official MUST surrender their seat until they are elected to it for the party they switch to.

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

Timeline

19 Jan 2022 Petition opened for signatures
24 Jan 2022 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 24 Jan 2022

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