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Open Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office

Created by Richard James Donaldson
Closes on

Introduce a new legal disqualification so people convicted of terrorism offences (in the UK or abroad) cannot stand as candidates or hold elected office, including local councils.

This is needed because current local election disqualification rules focus mainly on recent imprisonment thresholds (for example, being sentenced to 3 months or more within the last 5 years) and therefore may not prevent individuals with serious historic convictions from standing today. The Electoral Commission notes that the returning officer cannot confirm whether a candidate is disqualified and candidates self-declare their eligibility when submitting nomination papers.

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  • Related activity

    Original Government response

    Anyone sentenced to 3 months or more in prison is disqualified for 5 years from local government. We keep the broader counter terrorism framework under constant review to ensure it is fit for purpose.

    Currently anyone who has received a custodial sentence of 3 months or more, suspended or not, is disqualified for 5 years from standing or sitting as a member of a local authority. Councillors and candidates must declare anything that might disqualify them from standing for or holding local office. Not doing so is potentially a criminal offence.

    For the role of Police and Crime Commissioner, an individual is disqualified from standing for, and holding office, if they have ever been convicted of an imprisonable offence.

    As regards Members of Parliament, the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 and the Representation of the People Act 1981 set out the criteria which disqualify an individual from membership of the UK Parliament.

    The UK has one of the strongest counter terrorism frameworks in the world. This includes a range of specialised counter terrorism powers which support detection and disruption of terrorist risk, as well as a robust toolkit for managing terrorist offenders upon their release. We always keep this framework under review to ensure it is fit for purpose in the context of emerging threats. This is supported through independent scrutiny provided by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.

    Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
    This response was given on 1 April 2026. The Petitions Committee then requested a revised response, that more directly addressed the request of the petition.

  • Government responded to this petition

    We currently have no plans to change the disqualification criteria for these offences. We keep the UK’s broader counter terrorism framework under constant review to ensure it is fit for purpose.

    Read the response in full

    We currently have no plans to change the disqualification criteria for these offences.

    Currently anyone who has been convicted of any offence in the UK and receives a custodial sentence of three months or more, suspended or not, is disqualified for five years from standing or sitting as a member of an English local authority. Candidates must declare that they are not disqualified from standing for or holding local office. Making a false statement is potentially a criminal offence.

    Other disqualification criteria applying to councillors in England include:
    • Those under certain bankruptcy restrictions.
    • Those disqualified for illegal or corrupt election practices.
    • Those subject to certain notification requirements or a relevant order relating to sexual offences.
    • Those disqualified when convicted of certain intimidatory criminal offences against certain persons, including candidates of a relevant elective office.

    The UK has one of the strongest counter terrorism frameworks in the world. This includes a range of specialised counter terrorism powers which support detection and disruption of terrorist risk, as well as a robust toolkit for managing terrorist offenders upon their release. We always keep this framework under review to ensure it is fit for purpose in the context of emerging threats. This is supported through independent scrutiny provided by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.

    Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
    This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/759385)

  • Related activity

    Petitions Committee requests a revised response from the Government

    The Petitions Committee (the group of MPs who oversee the petitions system) has considered the Government’s response to this petition. They felt the response did not respond directly to the request of the petition. They have therefore asked the Government to provide a revised response.

    When the Committee receives a revised response from the Government, we will publish this and share it with you.

  • This petition will be considered for debate in Parliament

    This petition got more than 100,000 signatures meaning the Petitions Committee will consider it for debate in Parliament.

  • Government will respond to this petition

    This petition got more than 10,000 signatures meaning that government will respond to it.

  • Petition published

    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 6 September 2026.