A Bill to set up a Citizens' Convention for the purposes of establishing minimum standards of ethics for Members of Parliament and for promoting the involvement of citizens in political decision making; and for connected purposes.
The Bill would require the Electoral Commission to establish a Citizens' Convention of no fewer than 100 randomly selected people, subject to a requirement that the membership of the Convention should reflect the composition of the electorate in the United Kingdom. The Convention would make recommendations on:the system of allowances and expenses payable to Members of Parliamentthe system or systems of election to each House of Parliamentthe means by which electors may hold to account Members, including any mechanism for the recall or disqualification of Membersthe way business is conducted in both Houses of Parliamentthe funding of political parties.
House of Commons
23 October 2009
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
The bill would require the Electoral Commission to establish a Citizens’ Convention of at least 100 randomly selected people that reflects the UK electorate. The convention would study and propose minimum ethical standards for MPs and ways for citizens to influence political decisions, making recommendations on MPs’ pay and expenses, how MPs are elected to Parliament, how MPs can be held to account, how Parliament runs its business, and how political parties are funded.
The bill is currently at the 2nd reading in the House of Commons. It originated in the Commons, with its first reading in 2009, and has not yet progressed to the Lords.
Generated 21 February 2026
8 Jun 2009
This Bill was presented to Parliament on 8 June. This is known as First Reading and there was no debate on the Bill at this stage.
This Bill was on the Order Paper for a Second Reading on several Fridays before being dropped by its sponsor, Mr Martin Caton.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
