Recall of MPs Act 2015

The Recall of MPs Act 2015 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes provision for constituents to recall their member of Parliament (MP) and trigger a by-election. It received royal assent on 26 March 2015 after being introduced on 11 September 2014.[1][3]

Recall of MPs Act 2015
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to make provision about the recall of members of the House of Commons; and for connected purposes.
Citation2015 c. 25
Introduced byNick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Territorial extent United Kingdom
(England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
Dates
Royal assent26 March 2015[1]
Commencement26 March 2015[2]
Status: Amended
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

Unlike recall procedures in some other countries, the act does not allow constituents to initiate proceedings. Proceedings are initiated only if an MP is found guilty of wrongdoing fulfilling certain criteria. A petition is successful if at least one in ten voters in the constituency sign. Successful petitions result in the MP vacating the seat, triggering a by-election.

To date, four petitions have been made under the act, one in each constituent country of the United Kingdom; three of these, in England, Scotland and Wales, received sufficient signatures to trigger a by-election.

Background

Before the passage of the act there were no mechanisms to recall Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK. The Representation of the People Act 1981 disqualifies any person serving a jail sentence for more than a year from being an MP, and thus automatically ejects an MP so jailed. MPs involved in scandals or convicted of lesser crimes could be expelled from their party and pressured to resign, but there was no mechanism to force the exit of an MP prior to a general election.

Supporters for introducing recall mechanisms included the pressure group 38 Degrees and the National Union of Students.[4][5]

In 2009, a proposed Lords amendment to the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 would have made the Electoral Commission carry out a review into developing a recall mechanism; the amendment was defeated. A Ten Minute Rule bill was introduced by Douglas Carswell later that year with the aim of introducing both recall and primary elections for candidates; it did not progress.[6] The UK government gave a commitment in the 2010 Coalition Agreement to bring into force a power of recall.[7] Following the election and the coalition government's commitment, Zac Goldsmith introduced a series of private members bills for a recall process, none of which were successful.[6]

In the aftermath of the 2009 expenses scandal, a number of MPs involved in wrongdoing resigned following related court cases—for example Eric Illsley, whose resignation caused the 2011 Barnsley Central by-election, and Denis MacShane, who caused the 2012 Rotherham by-election. Such cases were cited by supporters of recall to allow voters to "sack" MPs who break the rules.[8][9][10]

In June 2012, the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee published its reports into the recall process, listing twenty conclusions and recommendations which included the views that "a system of full recall may deter MPs from taking decisions that are unpopular locally or unpopular in the short-term, but which are in the long-term national interest", "[w]e note that expulsion would not prevent the person concerned standing in the resulting by-election. We recommend that the Government abandon its plans to introduce a power of recall", and "We have not seen enough evidence to support the suggestion that it will increase public confidence in politics, and fear that the restricted form of recall proposed could even reduce confidence by creating expectations that are not fulfilled."[11]

In October 2014, during the final stage of debate on the bill in the Commons, opponents of the recall process pressed for assurances that voters could not begin recall petitions on the basis of views held or speeches made. Labour MP Geraint Davies said that misuse of the process would be an "intrinsic corruption of our democracy".[12] Labour MP Frank Dobson opposed recall as a threat to "hinder social progress" by "vested interests".[13]

Opponents of the process further worried that MPs "in fear" of being recalled would increase the number of "automatons and lobby fodder" in the Commons.[14]

Details of the act

Section 1 sets out the circumstances in which the Speaker of the House of Commons – or, in certain cases, their deputies – would trigger the recall process:

Sections 7–11 outline the procedure whereby the petition is forwarded by the electoral returning officer for the constituency to the MP's constituents for ratification, approval by 10 per cent of the registered electors triggering the loss of the MP's seat and a by-election.

Section 15 confirms that the seat becomes vacant if the petition is successful, if it has not already been vacated by disqualification or death, or otherwise.

Sections 16–22 make further provisions, including prohibiting forecasts of the outcome of active recall petitions which are based on statements from or surveys of potential signatories.[17]

Recall procedure

If an MP has been convicted of a criminal offence which would make them eligible for recall, they are not subject to recall until all of their appeals have been exhausted. In such a case, the courts are obliged to inform the Speaker of any progress made during the appeal.[18]

Once one of the conditions outlined in the act is fulfilled, the Speaker informs the petitions officer of the constituency; in most cases this would be the returning officer or acting returning officer. The petitions officer is then required to make the practical arrangements for the petition so as to open the proceedings within ten working days after the Speaker's notification. This involves selecting up to ten signing locations where petitioners can sign in person, in a similar manner to election polling stations.[19] As with votes in elections, voters are able to sign via post or proxy.[20] Campaigning for or against recalling the MP is regulated by spending restrictions.[19]

The petition remains open for six weeks.[19] No ongoing tally is reported by the petitions officer, and it is not revealed whether the required threshold of 10 per cent of eligible voters threshold has been reached until the close of the petition period. During the petition period the MP remains in office. If the petition is successful the seat becomes vacant and by-election procedures begin.[19] The recalled MP is permitted to stand in the by-election.

If the MP vacates the seat, or a general election is called, the recall is halted and the petition ends.[19]

The Electoral Commission reviewed the processes involved in the unsuccessful 2018 recall petition, as well as in the two successful recalls in 2019. They found that the three petitions had been carried out effectively and there were no significant problems or indications of fraud, but they identified a number of practical challenges linked to the availability of signing places, the length of the recall period, and the transparency of the process.[21][22]

Recall petitions made under the act
Parliament Petition and by-election MP Cause % signing petition Successful? Elected MP
2017–2019 North Antrim, 2018 Ian Paisley Jr
(independent, suspended from the DUP during the petition period)		 30-day suspension from the House 9.4% No —
Peterborough, 2019 Fiona Onasanya
(independent, elected as Labour)		 Custodial sentence of three months 27.6% Yes Lisa Forbes
(Labour)
Brecon and Radnorshire, 2019 Christopher Davies
(Conservative)		 Conviction for providing false or misleading expenses claims 18.9%[23] Yes Jane Dodds
(Liberal Democrats)
2019–present Rutherglen and Hamilton West, 2023 Margaret Ferrier
(independent, elected as SNP)		 30-day suspension from the House 14.7% Yes Michael Shanks
(Labour)
Wellingborough, 2023 Peter Bone
(independent, elected as Conservative)		 6 week suspension from the House TBC  

In addition to the recall petitions that were initiated, there have been several occasions where an MP was found to have committed serious misconduct or a criminal act, but the recall process was not initiated due to subsequent events.[24]

Left parliament before petition
  • In October 2019, the Committee for Standards recommended that Keith Vaz (Leicester East) be suspended from Parliament for six months after finding that he had offered to buy illegal drugs for sex workers. As Parliament had voted to dissolve itself for the general election six weeks later, the recall process was delayed until after the election; Vaz declined to defend his seat and instead retired from Parliament.[25]
  • In November 2021, Owen Paterson (North Shropshire) had been found by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to have breached lobbying rules, but the House of Commons voted to reject a proposed 30-day suspension in November 2021 after the government whipped its MPs to vote against the committee's report. The Government subsequently made a U-turn and proposed a new vote, but Paterson chose to resign from Parliament, pre-empting the vote and triggering a by-election.[26]
  • In October 2022, Chris Matheson (City of Chester) was found to have committed sexual misconduct, and the IEP recommended a suspension of 14 days; he resigned from Parliament on the day the report was published, triggering a by-election without a recall petition.[27]
  • In June 2023, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) was found by the Committee of Privileges to have deliberately misled Parliament in regards to the Partygate scandal. Initially, the committee planned to propose a suspension that would trigger a recall petition, but after Johnson made public statements that impugned the committee, he was additionally found to be in contempt of Parliament, and a 90-day suspension was recommended. Johnson's resigned from Parliament before the publication of the committee's report so that there was no recall petition, and a by-election was held.[28]
  • In September 2023, Chris Pincher (Tamworth) resigned his seat after the Standards Committee recommended an 8-week suspension and he lost his appeal over this recommendation. The suspension was proposed after he drunkenly groped two men.[29]

Other petitions not initiated
  • In May 2021, Rob Roberts (Delyn) was suspended from the House for six weeks for sexual misconduct, but this did not require a recall petition as his case had been judged by the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) instead of a Commons committee. Parliament closed this loophole in October 2021, with future suspensions recommended by IEP reports triggering the recall process,[16] but a vote on applying this revision retrospectively to Roberts failed.[30]
  • In October 2021, Claudia Webbe (Leicester East) was convicted of harassment and initially sentenced to ten weeks' imprisonment, suspended. However, she appealed and her sentence was reduced to a non-custodial one, so no petition was triggered.[31]

References
  1. "Bill stages – Recall of MPs Act 2015". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  2. "Recall of MPs Act 2015". The Stationery Office. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  3. "Recall of MPs Act 2015 – Legislation PDF" (PDF). The Stationery Office. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  4. ONE DOWN TWO TO GO – NICK CLEGG ACCEPTS OUR CALL FOR A RIGHT TO RECALL YOUR MP 38Degrees
  5. NUS launches "Right to Recall" campaign NUS
  6. Kelly, Richard; Johnston, Neil (6 June 2023). "Research briefing: Recall Elections". House of Commons Library.
  7. Impact Assessment Right to Recall Parliament.uk
  8. Voters to get right to sack 'bad apple' MPs as Labour and Lib Dems back stronger Recall powers The Daily Telegraph
  9. Public could get right to sack misbehaving MPs The Daily Telegraph
  10. Zac's Campaign for True Recall Zac Goldsmith MP
  11. "Right to Recall MPs" PCRC Report June 2012
  12. The good, the bad and the ugly in the Recall debate Conservative Home
  13. Power to the People? This recall Bill will do no such thing The Guardian
  14. Say No! to the recall of MPs Labour List
  15. "Correspondence with Mr Speaker concerning the Recall of MPs Act 2015". Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  17. "BBC – Editorial Guidelines – Editorial Guidelines". BBC. Retrieved 20 March 2019. There are automatic reporting restrictions in relation to recall petitions. They state that until the end of the last day of the signing period of the petition we must not publish / broadcast: Any statement relating to whether any person has signed the petition where that statement is (or might reasonably be taken to be) based on information given by that person; or Any forecast as to the result of the petition which is (or might reasonably be taken to be) based on information so given.
  18. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05089/SN05089.pdf
  19. Library, House of Commons (10 August 2018). "The first use of a 'recall petition' in the UK". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  20. McCormack, Jayne (16 August 2018). "Ian Paisley recall petition opens". Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  21. "Report: 2018 recall petition in North Antrim". Electoral Commission. 5 November 2018.
  22. "The process to challenge a sitting MP: review of the 2019 recall petitions". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2019.
  23. "Welsh Tory MP unseated after petition". BBC News. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  24. This House of Commons Library publication documents such cases up to June 2023: Johnston, Neil; Kelly, Richard (8 June 2023). "Recall elections" (PDF). Commons Briefing Papers (5089).
  25. Skopeliti, Clea (10 November 2019). "Labour's Keith Vaz to stand down at general election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  26. Parker, George; Hughes, Laura; Cameron-Chileshe, Jasmine (4 November 2021). "Tory MP in sleaze row quits as Boris Johnson makes U-turn over standards reform". Financial Times.
  27. "Labour MP Christian Matheson resigns over sexual misconduct". BBC News. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  28. Sparrow, Andrew (15 June 2023). "Boris Johnson would face 90-day suspension if he were still MP, says privileges committee – UK politics live". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  29. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-66739410
  30. "Commons suspends Tory MP Rob Roberts over sexual harassment". the Guardian. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  31. Murray, Jessica (26 May 2022). "Ex-Labour MP Claudia Webbe loses appeal against harassment conviction". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
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