A
BILL
TO
Permit voters to recall their Member of Parliament in specified circumstances;
and for connected purposes.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
In this Act—
“constituency” means an area represented by a Member of Parliament;
and
5“recall petition” means a petition calling, in terms determined under
section 4, for the seat of an elected representative to be vacated in
accordance with this Act.
(1)
If one per cent of registered voters in the constituency of a Member of
10Parliament sign a notice-of-intent-to-recall petition stating that they have lost
confidence in their Member of Parliament for whatever reason then a recall
petition must be made available under section 3.
(2)
A returning officer must be appointed if a recall petition is to be made available
in accordance with subsection (1).
(3)
15In order for a notice-of-intent-to-recall petition to be valid the Returning
Officer must be satisfied that the petition has been submitted in accordance
with the rules provided for in subsection (4).
(4)
The Secretary of State must make rules by statutory instrument within six
months of the passing of this Act setting out how a notice-of-intent-to-recall
20petition is to be submitted.
(5)
The Returning Officer must, within two weeks from the date on which notice
of intention to recall has been submitted under subsection (3), give notice that
the elected representative is subject to a recall petition.
Recall of Members of Parliament BillPage 2
(1) Where the returning officer for a constituency gives notice, the officer must—
(a)
designate a place or places at which a recall petition is to be made
available for signature,
(b) 5ensure that arrangements are made to enable access to the petition, and
(c)
designate a day from which the petition is to be made available for
signature.
(2)
The returning officer must ensure that the recall petition is made available for
signature at the designated place or places throughout the signing period.
(3) 10In this Act “the signing period” means the period—
(a) beginning with the designated day, and
(b) ending with the day eight weeks later.
(1)
This section makes provision about the wording of a recall petition that is to be
15made available for signature under section 3.
(2)
The recall petition is to read “If you think that [name], the [Member of
Parliament] for [constituency] should be subject to a recall election, please sign
below.”
(1)
20A recall petition is successful if the number of persons who validly sign the
petition is at least 20% of the number of persons registered in the register of
electors for the constituency.
(2)
As soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the signing period, the
returning officer must determine whether the recall petition has been
25successful.
(3)
If the recall petition has been successful then a recall election must be held
within two months.
(1)
The question that is to appear on the ballot papers in a recall election is “Should
30[name of Member of Parliament] be recalled from the House of Commons?”.
(2)
The Secretary of State must make rules by statutory instrument within 6
months of the passing of this Act making provision relating to the entitlement
to vote in, and the conduct of, the recall election.
(3)
If at a recall election more votes are cast in favour of the answer “Yes” than in
35favour of the answer “No”, then the Member of Parliament is recalled, the seat
is declared vacant under the Representation of the People Act 1983 and a by-
election, in which the recalled candidate may stand, must be held within two
months.
Recall of Members of Parliament BillPage 3
A statutory instrument containing rules under this Act is subject to annulment
in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
5There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament any costs incurred by the
Secretary of State in connection with carrying out his functions under this Act.
(1) This Act may be cited as the Recall of Members of Parliament Act 2014.
(2)
Section 2(1) of this Act comes into force at the end of the period of 18 months
10beginning with the day on which this Act is passed.
(3) The remaining provisions of this Act come into force on the day it is passed.
(4) This Act extends to England and Wales.