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The long-awaited and much discussed bill giving voters the right to recall MPs outside a general election has been published, but immediately criticised for making the process too difficult.
The coalition bill says an MP can be exposed to a recall petition if he or she is convicted of an offence in the UK and receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or less; or if the Commons orders their suspension for at least 21 sitting days (or at least 28 calendar days if the motion is not expressed in terms of sitting days). Under the current rules, MPs who go to prison for more than 12 months automatically lose their seat.
If either of these triggers is met an MP's constituents will have the opportunity to sign a recall petition, calling for a byelection. If 10% of parliamentary electors in the constituency sign the petition, the MP's seat will become vacant and a byelection will be held. The recall petition process does not prevent the unseated MP from standing in the byelection.
The bill also sets out rules on how much can be spent in the consequent campaign – a move prompted by concerns that rich lobbyists will dominate campaigns to unseat MPs on issues such as low tax or abortion.
The petition must be available in four separate places in the constituency and to any registered elector above the age of 18. The petition can be signed either by post, in person or by proxy. The petition will be open for eight weeks.
Critics of the recall bill argue that it is tepid, and has been delayed due to opposition from the Conservatives.
More than 70 MPs from all parties have signed an alternative recall bill developed by the Tory MP Zac Goldsmith that requires 5% of the electorate to serve notice that they wish to recall their MP; 20% is required for a byelection to be called. The same rights would apply in the case of local councillors and members of the National Assemblies.
Goldsmith said: "Opposition to the government's proposed recall legislation has been growing, with numerous campaign groups and MPs from all parties saying it falls dramatically short of voter expectations."
He said that under the government's version, an MP could only be recalled if a committee of MPs agreed to it. Additionally, the criteria are so narrow as to render it highly unlikely any MP could be recalled.
"Recall is supposed to be about empowering voters to hold their MPs to account, and the government's proposals fall scandalously short. They don't empower voters in any meaningful sense at all, and at the very first scandal, they will realise they have been duped. This highly successful cross-party committee demonstrated that even if some party leaders have no appetite for reform, parliament does."
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