Rejected petition Reform PMQs rules to require the Prime Minister to answer questions directly

Require the Prime Minister to give direct and relevant answers to questions during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), and restrict the use of unrelated responses or personal criticism of MPs instead of answering the question asked.

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Prime Minister’s Questions is intended to hold the Prime Minister accountable to Parliament by requiring them to answer questions from Members of Parliament. However, answers often avoid the question asked and instead focus on unrelated matters or criticism of the questioning MP.

This undermines the purpose of PMQs as a mechanism of scrutiny and reduces public trust in parliamentary accountability.

Clear rules or guidance should be introduced or strengthened to ensure that answers are relevant, substantive, and address the question asked.

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:

Introduce standards for answers to PMQs to be enforced by the Speaker
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/762566

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

Date submitted 25 March 2026
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