Rejected petition Make constitutional changes for party-switching MPs and Local Councilors

Instigate a constitutional change to the parliamentary and local government systems, that mandates any standing Member of Parliament or local councilor who changes their political allegiance from one registered party to another to stand down and trigger a by-election or re-election.

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The current political system is unfair, unethical, and outdated. This betrays the trust voters place in their representatives to reflect their views honestly. Voters lose their democratic right to elect someone who represents their views under the current system.

Enforcing such a measure, will promote transparency and accountability in our political system. Voters can reaffirm their choice based on the current political stance of their representatives.

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 petitions, which call for similar action:

Mandate by-elections for Councillors who change parties post-election
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/749622

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 28 January 2026
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