This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament
Rejected petition Any MP who wishes to "cross the floor" must first resign and face a by-election.
Although in a general election the electorate vote for a person, not a party, this isn't what happens in reality. Most people vote for a particular party. Any MP who wishes to change their allegiance to another party (or become an Independent) should first seek a mandate from their constituents.
More details
When there have been previous calls for MPs to face a by-election if they defect to a different party from the one on whose manifesto they were elected, the Government has responded that such a change would be “a major constitutional reform of the role of Members of Parliament and their independence”. The failure of Parliament to carry out the democratic instruction of the British people in the 2016 referendum demonstrates that such constitutional reform is now overdue.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
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https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/269912
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