Do petitions work? Inside the Commons Committee that actually decides

Ten years after the House of Commons Petitions Committee was created – does it actually work? Does it genuinely shift policy? Or is it an emotional release valve? In this special anniversary episode, we bring together four Chairs of the Petitions Committee – one current, three former – for a candid conversation about what happens after hundreds of thousands (or sometimes millions) of people click “sign”.

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The House of Commons Petitions Committee is the place in Parliament where ordinary people set the agenda. Now, a decade after it was created, is it actually the most powerful pressure valve in UK politics?

In this 10th-anniversary episode we trace the origins of the Committee – from the early battles with government and the breakthrough on brain tumour research – to the Covid era when petitioning briefly became the country’s primary political participation channel. And we revisit the petitions that blindsided even the MPs in the room.

To mark ten years, the current Chair — and three former Chairs — answer directly:

• what really happens when a petition passes 100,000 signatures;

• which petitions genuinely changed government thinking;

• do ministers watch the queue of petitions nervously;

• should petitions now get votable time in the main Chamber;

• how the pandemic supercharged petition culture;

• why petitions debates are the most watched debates after PMQs; and

• whether petitions amplify the already-loud or give voice to the unheard.

This isn’t a theoretical seminar about “democracy”. This is the Committee inside Parliament where the public decides the agenda. After a decade, what’s the verdict?

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Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox

Producer: Richard Townsend

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