Introduce a mechanism to allow UK citizens to call a general election

Rejected 16 signatures

What the petition asks

General elections occur every 5 years and can only take place earlier at the behest of the incumbent Prime Minister. If there is significant dissatisfaction with the actions of Government, UK Citizens have few options, other than disruptive civil disobedience, to make their voices heard.

Introducing a new mechanism that would allow UK citizens to trigger a general election would make the UK Government significantly more accountable to the electorate, at all times during its tenure, and reduce civil unrest.

The mechanism could include, initially, a petition for a General Election referendum hitting a pre-determined number of signatures on this site, (perhaps 2-4 million) with the referendum itself requiring a significant majority of people (70/30 or 80/20) voting in favour.

Why it was rejected

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

We believe your ask is already covered by two petitions we currently have open:

Change the law so that UK citizens can call a General election
Change the law so that UK citizens can call a General election

Introduce a mechanism for the public to call a 'No Confidence Referendum'
Introduce a mechanism for the public to call a 'No Confidence Referendum'

We also have the following petitions open on a similar topic:

Impose new requirements on replacing the Prime Minister and subsequent election
Impose new requirements on replacing the Prime Minister and subsequent election

Require a referendum on whether to hold an early general election if PM changes
Require a referendum on whether to hold an early general election if PM changes

Timeline

15 Oct 2022	Petition opened for signatures
18 Oct 2022	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 16

Status Rejected

Rejected 18 Oct 2022

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