Find more guides in our A to Z of Campaigning
1. What is a petition?
2. How to draft a petition
3. Getting signatures
4. E-petitions
5. The final count
6. Delivering the petition
7. Involving your political representative
8. Examples of petitions
9. Feedback and comments
1. What is a petition?
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A petition is a formal request made to the government, the Queen or some other authority or organisation. It can be made by one person on their own but it is generally used to show the strength of feeling on an issue by getting as many people as possible to add their signature to the request.
Petitions are a good way of gaining extra support and building a network of followers, and can influence a decision, although they have no legal force. No-one is legally bound to do anything requested in a petition no matter how many people sign it.
2. How to draft a petition
One of the first decisions you need to make is who the final petition is going to. Different institutions have different requirements for the wording of a petition. For example, the European Parliament doesn't have a particular format to follow, whereas there are specific rules for the House of Commons.
In general, keep it short and direct and follow these basic rules:
- Address whoever you are petitioning
- Write a short statement of the problem
- Use the phrase: 'We the undersigned…'
- Clearly request what you would like done
- Indicate who has organised the petition
- Include the name and address of everyone who signs
- Each sheet of signatures should have the request written at the top
The best question to ask yourself is does it make you want to sign it? The introduction needs to grab people's imagination and the main request should have them nodding their heads in agreement.
When you've finished, ask people who are not involved in the campaign to check it to see if it makes sense. Make sure all the spelling is correct and there is plenty of space for addresses, comments etc.
3. Getting signatures
Once you have the finished document, you'll have to strap on your walking boots and get out there if you want to get it signed by as many people as possible. Make sure that everyone who signs it includes their name and address. If you post petition forms to supporters, make sure you include a 'to be returned by' date.
Hitting the street
Meet up with your fellow supporters and talk about which areas of the community you can cover: door-to-door, on the streets, pubs, at work, etc. If you are going door-to-door, it is probably best to go in pairs for added safety.
Going up to people in the street can be a bit nerve-racking, so be prepared for the odd knock back. Think about areas where you can maximise your support, and when people have the time to stop and talk to you. As long as you don't make yourself a nuisance, the police will leave you alone.
Make yourself known
Make sure you clearly identify yourself. You could wear specially printed T-shirts or badges so people know who you are and what you are doing. Set up a table, with banners and posters around to highlight your issue.
Get some leaflets printed and be armed with the facts for the most probing of questions - people will want to know what they are signing. The leaflets are also a good thing to give out so people will have something to take away and think about. You might like to hand out stickers and badges too.
Keeping in touch
When people are signing the petition they will be providing you with their address. If you want to contact them in the future to let them know what is happening and ask for their continued support, then you must get their permission to do so. The same applies for email addresses.
To do this, you need to ask them to put a tick in a box or column, or sign a separate sheet of paper allowing you to send them information by post or email. Don't pass this information on to anyone else, otherwise you could be breaking the Data Protection Act. You can find out more about this from the Information Commissioner.
4. E-petitions
Posting your petition online will greatly increase its potential reach. You could do this on your own website by creating a petition page. There are two ways of doing this. They are:
- A petition for visitors to your website to complete online
- A blank petition form which can be printed off by your supporters and used to collect signatures
Requirements
E-petitions to the government need to follow the same standards as paper petitions and need to offer access to a full name and address for each signatory. These verification details (including an email address and date of birth) should be collected by the e-petition organiser.
You do not have to show this information on the online petition itself and it is best not to do so for security reasons. As with a paper petition, if you want to contact people who sign your petition either by post or by email then you need to get their permission to do so. Again, this information should not be passed on to other people otherwise you could be breaking the Data Protection Act.
Spread the word
You could use an e-petition website to host your petition online and increase your profile. The website will also provide guidance about the best ways of producing your petition.
Let people know about your petition by advertising it on any of the mailing lists or newsgroups you use. You could also register it with some search engines, usually for nothing.
5. The final count
Once you have decided to stop collecting signatures you should count how many you have. When counting up names, you can't count false ones so cross them out. Funny names, such as Mickey Mouse or The Queen will discredit your petition. If you are gathering several forms together you cannot copy people's signatures or addresses across onto another form, or cut them out and stick them on another sheet. You can't hand over photocopies either - it must be the original petition.
Once you have all the signatures collected, arrange a meeting with your team to talk about their reactions from people and gather feedback. This also helps build morale and you'll be able to give them the grand total of signatures collected. You could write a press release detailing how many signatures were collected and when and to whom you are going to hand the petition over. See the Action Network guide, How do I write a press release? for more information.
6. Delivering the petition
You should be handing your petition over to the person who can help you achieve maximum success - it could be an MP or local councillor or even the prime minister.
Think of the best ways of making a public event of handing over your petition. Invite press and photographers along to get maximum publicity for your campaign. Dress up in appropriate costumes. This will help highlight your appeal and makes for a great photo in the newspapers.
Once handed in, it might take time before you get a response to the petition. It will need to go through the official channels - but that doesn't mean you sit back and wait for something to happen. Keep in contact with them and make sure they keep you up-to-date. Also, it's important to keep your supporters up-to-date on any changes. Make them feel involved as much as possible.
7. Involving your political representative
You could think about taking your action further by arranging a lobby to see one of your local political representatives if they haven't already been involved.
Presenting to the UK Parliament
If your petition concerns something which the government has an influence over then you can ask your MP to present it to the House of Commons, which will send it to the relevant government department. Your MP can present the petition formally, by announcing it to the House, or informally by placing it in a green bag hanging behind the Speaker's chair.
Presenting a petition to Parliament does not mean that the MP supports what it says and you can ask them to do so even if they disagree with your opinion.
If your petition is presented to the House of Commons, the government will make a response to it, but it does not follow that they will comment on it in Parliament. Petitions are rarely discussed in parliamentary project/program and you are most likely to receive a letter explaining the government's response.
Parliaments and assemblies
Devolved parliaments and assemblies also receive petitions from the public, as does the European Parliament. It is important your petition concerns an area that the institution you send it to has some influence over, otherwise they will not consider it.
The Scottish Parliament has a public petitions committee which deals with all submissions - and has a section especially for e-petitions. It decides whether further action should be taken on individual petitions within parliament or if it should be forwarded to another body such as the Scottish Executive.
The National Assembly for Wales has a petitions clerk who will take petitions either in person or by post, or alternatively you can present it to your Assembly Member and ask them to submit it to the clerk.
Petitions to the European parliament can either be sent directly to the President of the European Parliament or to the parliament's UK office. If the petition falls within the remit of the European Parliament, it may be forwarded to other bodies such as the European Commission, a relevant national authority, or other committees within the parliament.
8. Examples of petitions
A general petition
To Havering District Council,
In recent years many well-respected studies have shown that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
We the undersigned therefore ask that Havering District Council remove all the birds from the local hedgerows as soon as possible and hand them out to all the local residents.
(signature) John Bentley ORGANISER 15 Halfpenny Road, Havering
(signature) Maureen Nightly 24 Maxwell Street, Havering
(signature) Lyle Crumbly 20a Jumbo Cresent, Havering
A petition for presentation to the House of Commons
To the House of Commons.
The Petition of Mr. Marcus Greiling and others,
Declares that stones should not be thrown by those who live in glass houses,
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons immediately outlaw the building of glass houses in the United Kingdom.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.
(signature) Marcus Greiling 24 Mirabelle Crescent, Manchester, Lancs
(signature) Caroline Benning 57 Happenstance Avenue, Wittering, Essex
(signature) Jonathon Argyle 12 Lulu Close, Sutton, Surrey
9. Feedback and comments
If this guide helped you sort something out, please tell us! It's the only way we'll find out whether people think Action Network is useful. To send us an email, please go to the Contact us page and choose the "Tell us your success" option.
