Rejected petition Call a by-election when an MP defects or is expelled from a party.

A UK parliamentary by-election happens when a seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant between general elections. This is either when an MP dies, is recalled via petition, convicted or joins the House of Lords. Yet they can change party or become an independent at a whim.

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If an MP defects to another party or is expelled from a party or otherwise changes political affiliation from that that they were elected upon, this should trigger a by-election so that the people can give their say upon who they actually want to represent them.

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.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737660

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 17 January 2026
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