There is something pleasingly anachronistic about Parliament’s e-petitions platform. Petitions have been presented to Parliament since the 1270s. In 1669 MPs expressed “the inherent right of every commoner in England to…present petitions to the House of Commons”. Since 2006 that right has been exercised online, nowadays by clicking a big green button labelled “Sign this petition”.
The popularity of e-petitions makes them a new thermostat of public opinion. At the height of the Brexit debate more than 6m people signed a petition to remain in the EU. Many conservatives may have sneered at that activism, but the election of a Labour government appears to have turned the tables. Since July petitions favoured by more right-wing constituencies have outperformed those favoured by more left-wing ones (see chart). Over 3m people have signed the most popular petition of this Parliament, alleging that Labour’s broken promises mean there should be a fresh election.
The real prize for activists is prompting a response from the government (requiring 10,000 signatures) or a debate in Parliament (100,000). For disgruntled voters, catharsis matters more. The petition to “suspend all immigration for five years” has over 215,000 signees. The website’s leaderboard of popular causes adds a competitive element. Conservatives are discovering that the absence of real power can make slacktivists of all.■
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