Rejected petition Review PMQs rules to require direct answers and stronger Speaker intervention

PMQs often fails to deliver real scrutiny because questions are avoided and the Speaker rarely intervenes. We want a review to set clearer rules requiring the Prime Minister to address the substance of questions and strengthen the Speaker’s authority.

More details

PMQs is intended to let MPs question the Prime Minister on behalf of the public. But questions are often met with unrelated points, political attacks, or counter‑questions, and the Speaker rarely intervenes. This weakens scrutiny and public trust. A review could set clearer rules for direct answers, strengthen the Speaker’s authority, and help restore accountability.

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
Get petition data (json format)

About petition data

The data shows the number of people who have signed the petition by country as well as in the constituency of each Member of Parliament. This data is available for all petitions on the site. It is not a list of people who have signed the petition. The only name that is shared on the site is that of the petition creator.