This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament
Rejected petition Ban so-called political parties with ‘closed’ membership.
Closed membership parties are allowing an elite minority to control the country’s political future. Parliament has the power to legislate to ensure that closed membership organisations are not permitted to register and fundraise as political parties. This power must be used.
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Currently political party registration is organised by the Electoral Commission under powers conferred by primary legislation.
Bizarrely, under the current rules, a political party can operate with more candidates than members. The party candidates do not have to be members. This must be changed. This concentration of power in the hands of so few is an affront to democracy.
Organisations that operate closed membership should not be permitted to register or be called a political party.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
We're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. UK poltiical parties have a variety of different membership types and internal structures for decision making.
You could start a new petition explaining requiring specific standards that all political parties have to adhere to for admitting members, if that is what you would like to see happen.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.