Sir Keir Starmer has the power to call an election at a time of his choosing (Image: Getty)

“It is time for action. We believe the Government has failed to defend our borders from the small boats. We have no confidence in the way this Government has acted. Pensioners and farmers have been directly affected by policies that were not included in Labour’s manifesto. Our country cannot go on like this. Dissolve Parliament and call a General Election now!”.

Petitions with 10,000 signatures get a response from the Government.

Andy Burnham has ruled out a snap general election if he were to enter No. 10 (Image: Getty)

This discussion took place on January 12, and can be viewed here.

Sir Keir has faced calls from the former Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, and other MPs for him to resign since the Labour Party suffered huge losses at the local elections in May.

“The Prime Minister can call a general election at a time of their choosing by requesting a dissolution of Parliament from the Sovereign within the five-year life of a Parliament. The Government was elected by the British people on a mandate of change at the July 2024 general election.

“Wages under this Government have increased more during our first year in office than under the previous 10 years of the last government. We have reduced NHS waiting lists by 225,000 and rolled out thousands of free breakfast clubs across the country. We have also increased the National Minimum Wage and our manifesto pledge to introduce an Employment Rights Act has now been passed into law.

“We recognise people across the country want to see change in their everyday lives. As a result of the decisions this Government has taken, families will see £150 come off their energy bills this year, rail fares will remain frozen for the first time in 30 years and NHS prescription charges will be capped below £10.

“The Government will continue to deliver the manifesto of change that it was elected on.”

Petition to call a general election passes huge milestone but STILL won’t be debated

A petition calling for an immediate UK general election has become a major talking point, but reaching a large number of signatures does not automatically mean MPs will be required to debate it in Parliament.

That distinction has become particularly important amid renewed calls for voters to be given another opportunity to choose a government following the change of prime minister.

The UK Parliament’s official petition system states that petitions receiving 10,000 signatures normally receive a response from the Government. Those reaching 100,000 signatures are considered by the Petitions Committee for debate. Crucially, however, “considered for debate” does not mean that a debate is guaranteed.

One of the current petitions calling for an election is titled “General election now – and always call one if a PM is replaced.” It was created in July 2026 and remains open until January 1, 2027.

As of September 21, it had attracted around 17,600 signatures — well below the 100,000 threshold required for consideration for a parliamentary debate.

The petition argues that a prime minister who replaces another prime minister during a parliamentary term should obtain a fresh mandate through a general election. Its creator also criticises the government’s policies on immigration, pensions, agriculture and other issues.

Those are the petitioner’s arguments, rather than findings established by Parliament.

The Government has already responded because the petition passed 10,000 signatures.

Its response is significant because it directly addresses the constitutional question behind the campaign.

The Government states that voters in a general election elect MPs to represent their constituencies rather than directly electing the prime minister. Following an election, the prime minister is appointed by the Sovereign as the person best able to command the confidence of the House of Commons.

It also states that there is no constitutional requirement for a general election whenever a prime minister resigns.

That principle is important in understanding the current political situation.

A change of prime minister does not automatically dissolve Parliament. If a new prime minister can command the confidence of the existing House of Commons, the government can continue without immediately seeking a new national vote.

The Government argues that automatically requiring an election whenever a prime minister changes could create political and economic instability during periods of transition.

The current constitutional framework instead allows Parliament to continue until an election is called, subject to the maximum five-year parliamentary term established by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022.

This means that a petition demanding an election and the legal mechanism for actually holding one are two different things.

A petition can demonstrate that a significant number of people want a particular political change.

It cannot itself dissolve Parliament.

That is one reason why the 100,000-signature threshold can sometimes be misunderstood.

The official parliamentary wording is that petitions reaching 100,000 signatures are considered for debate.

The Petitions Committee then decides whether a debate should take place.

Parliament’s own records show this process in action. In July 2026, the Petitions Committee considered petitions that had passed 100,000 signatures and selected several for debate. Among them were petitions concerning surrogacy law, misogyny as a hate crime, water-industry ownership and sentence reductions for guilty pleas.

Other petitions that passed the threshold can remain awaiting consideration rather than immediately receiving parliamentary time.

The distinction is therefore not simply technical.

A petition reaching 100,000 signatures can place an issue formally before the Petitions Committee, but it does not give petitioners the power to force MPs to hold a vote on the underlying demand.

Nor does a parliamentary debate itself guarantee that the Government will implement what the petition requests.

The current election petition is also far from the largest general-election petition seen during this Parliament.

Parliament’s official database records a petition titled “Call a General Election” that received more than 3 million signatures before closing in May 2025. Another petition calling for an immediate election received more than 1 million signatures before closing in December 2025. A further petition demanding that Parliament be dissolved and a general election held received more than 221,000 signatures before closing in June 2026.

Those figures show that petitions demanding an election can attract enormous public participation.

But they also demonstrate the limits of the petition system.

Large numbers of signatures do not themselves trigger an election.

The constitutional decision remains separate from the petition process.

There is another interesting development in September.

Several petitions specifically calling for an immediate general election have been rejected by Parliament’s petitions system. The official database shows petitions with titles including “Call a general election”, “General election”, “A New General Election” and “Call for an immediate snap general election” among those rejected during August and September 2026.

Rejection does not necessarily mean Parliament has taken a political position against an election.

Petitions can be rejected for procedural reasons under the rules governing the petitions system. The existence of a rejected petition therefore needs to be distinguished from a parliamentary vote against holding a general election.

Meanwhile, the Government’s response to the current open petition provides a clear statement of its constitutional position.

Ministers say the existing arrangement is designed to balance democratic accountability with governmental stability.

That argument becomes particularly relevant when a prime minister changes during a Parliament.

Under the UK’s parliamentary system, the public elects MPs. The government is then formed by the person who can command the confidence of the House of Commons.

This differs from a presidential system in which voters directly elect the head of government.

As a result, a change in prime minister does not necessarily require the electorate to vote again.

There have been numerous examples of prime ministers taking office without a general election during an existing Parliament.

Theresa May became prime minister after David Cameron resigned in 2016. Boris Johnson replaced May in 2019 before the December general election. Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair in 2007 without immediately calling an election. Rishi Sunak replaced Liz Truss in 2022 and governed until the 2024 election.

The current debate therefore concerns whether that constitutional convention should change.

The petition proposes a different rule: whenever a prime minister is replaced, the public should be given an immediate opportunity to vote.

Supporters of such a system could argue that it would give a newly installed prime minister a direct electoral mandate.

Opponents could argue that it would make government unstable and create elections whenever leadership changes occurred.

Those competing arguments are at the heart of the issue.

For the moment, the law remains unchanged.

A petition cannot compel the prime minister to call an election, and reaching 100,000 signatures cannot automatically trigger a dissolution of Parliament.

Even if the current petition eventually reaches that threshold, the Petitions Committee would have to consider whether to schedule a debate.

The petition itself would still not determine the outcome.

This is particularly relevant because the current petition remains open until January 2027.

It therefore has several months to attract additional support.

Whether it reaches 100,000 signatures will depend on the level of public interest and mobilisation during that period.

If it does, the parliamentary process would move to another stage.

The Petitions Committee would consider the petition and could choose to schedule a debate in Westminster Hall. Such debates provide MPs with an opportunity to discuss the issue and allow the petitioner’s case to receive formal parliamentary attention.

But Westminster Hall debates do not normally result in binding decisions by the House of Commons.

The petition’s political significance could nevertheless be greater than its constitutional power.

A large petition can demonstrate that an issue has attracted considerable public attention. MPs can raise the subject in Parliament, journalists can scrutinise the Government’s position, and political parties can use the issue in campaigning.

But it remains important not to confuse political pressure with legal authority.

The Government’s current response is unequivocal on one point: it has no plans to change the constitutional arrangements governing general elections.

It says the existing system already provides regular opportunities for voters to choose their MPs and parties, with a maximum parliamentary term of five years.

That means campaigners seeking an immediate election face a significant distinction between gathering signatures and changing government policy.

They can continue to campaign.

They can seek parliamentary attention.

They can encourage MPs to support their position.

But the petition itself cannot dissolve Parliament.

The wider debate is nevertheless likely to continue, particularly because the question of what should happen when a prime minister leaves office is now explicitly being raised through Parliament’s own petition system.

The current petition’s wording proposes an automatic election following any change of prime minister.

That would represent a substantial change to Britain’s constitutional arrangements.

For now, however, the established system remains in place.

A petition can cross 10,000 signatures and receive a Government response. At 100,000, it can be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate. Neither threshold creates an automatic general election.

That is the key fact behind the latest milestone.

The campaign may generate headlines, parliamentary discussion and political pressure, but the route from a petition to an actual general election is not automatic.

Ultimately, an election will be held when the constitutional and parliamentary rules provide for one — or when the government seeks a dissolution and an election takes place.

Until then, even a petition attracting a substantial number of signatures remains a mechanism for expressing public opinion rather than a mechanism for directly changing the government.

And that distinction explains why a petition can make political waves while still not guaranteeing a debate — or an election.

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