Governance & Transparency
Annual Confidence Vote • Recall for Any Reason • Real-Time Voting Records
Donations in 24 Hours • Interests Before You Speak • Plain-English Law
The Problem
An MP is elected for up to five years and, in practice, cannot be removed in between. The Recall of MPs Act 2015 lets constituents petition for a by-election only after the MP has been jailed, suspended from the Commons for at least ten sitting days, or convicted of making false expenses claims. The petition succeeds if 10% of the electorate signs within six weeks. Short of that, the voters who hired an MP have no say until the next general election, however the MP behaves.
The information is there, but scattered. Commons votes are published on votes.parliament.uk, interests in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, business costs by IPSA, ministerial meetings in quarterly departmental returns, and party donations by the Electoral Commission every quarter. A donation to a central party is not reported at all unless that donor’s gifts in the year add up to more than £11,180. Consultant lobbyists must register. In-house lobbyists, employed directly by the companies and bodies they lobby for, need not.
Councils are no better. Since the Localism Act 2011 abolished the Standards Board, a council that finds a councillor broke its code of conduct cannot suspend them. It can only censure them. And legislation is written for lawyers. The Explanatory Notes that come with an Act are helpful, but nobody votes on them.
BUILD candidates already sign the Agreement with Voters, which covers the annual confidence vote, the public dashboard, donations published within 24 hours, no second jobs and interests declared before the election. This charter makes those promises law for every MP, of every party.
Pillar 1: The Annual Confidence Vote
1.1 — Every MP, Every Year
Every year on 5 November, the registered electors of each constituency are asked one question about their MP: should they continue to represent this constituency? The returning officer runs the ballot on the same register, with the same postal and proxy arrangements and the same counting rules as a parliamentary election. If a majority of those voting say no, the seat is vacated and a by-election follows.
No vote is held in the first six months after an MP’s election, or in the final six months before a general election is due.
1.2 — Why a Fixed Date
A fixed date means no MP can time the vote to suit themselves, and no campaign can be sprung on an MP without warning. Constituents know when the vote is coming and what they are judging: the MP’s votes, surgeries, replies and declarations over the past year, all published under Pillar 3.
Pillar 2: Recall for Any Reason
2.1 — Keep the 10%, Drop the Triggers
The Recall of MPs Act 2015 already sets the right threshold: a petition signed by 10% of registered electors. What it gets wrong is the gate. Today a petition can open only after a conviction, a jail sentence or a Commons suspension. BUILD removes the triggers. Constituents can open a recall petition at any time and for any reason, by lodging a notice backed by 1% of the electorate with the petition officer. The existing six-week signing period and the existing rules on where and how people sign still apply.
2.2 — One Petition at a Time
If a recall petition fails, no new one can be opened against the same MP for six months. The confidence vote in Pillar 1 runs whatever the recall record. The two routes work alongside each other: a petition for when something goes wrong in the middle of the year, and the annual vote as a regular check.
Pillar 3: The Public Record
3.1 — Every Vote, Recorded and Searchable
Every division in both Houses is already published, but in different places and on different timetables. Every MP’s full voting record, deferred divisions included, is published within one hour of the division, searchable by MP, by subject and by bill, and free to download and reuse under the Open Government Licence.
3.2 — Lobbying Meetings Logged
The Register of Consultant Lobbyists is extended to cover in-house lobbyists and every MP, not only ministers and permanent secretaries. Any meeting between an MP or minister and a person paid to influence policy is logged within seven days. The log records who attended, who they represented and what was discussed. Ministerial meeting returns move from quarterly to monthly.
3.3 — Expenses Itemised
IPSA already publishes MPs’ business costs. BUILD requires every claim to be itemised and published within one month of payment, with receipts available on request.
Pillar 4: Interests and Second Jobs
4.1 — Declared Before You Stand
The Register of Members’ Financial Interests starts after an MP is elected. BUILD moves it forward. Every parliamentary candidate files a declaration with their nomination papers, and the returning officer publishes it before polling day. It covers property other than the candidate’s home, directorships, shareholdings over £5,000, paid work, and any close family member who holds a public contract. Voters should know who they are electing before they vote.
4.2 — Declared Before You Speak
Commons rules already require an MP to declare a relevant interest before speaking in a debate. BUILD puts that rule into statute with a fixed sanction. A failure to declare is a breach whether or not the MP says they forgot. A second breach within a Parliament triggers suspension, and under Pillar 2 constituents can open a recall petition at any time.
4.3 — No Second Jobs
Paid advocacy, and paid parliamentary advice and consultancy, are already banned. BUILD goes further: no MP may hold a paid directorship, consultancy or other paid employment while sitting. There are two exceptions: keeping a professional registration active (a doctor’s or nurse’s shifts, for example) up to a stated cap, and income from work finished before election. Both are declared.
Pillar 5: Money in Politics
5.1 — Every Donation in 24 Hours
Parties report donations over £11,180 to the Electoral Commission every quarter, and weekly only during a general election. BUILD replaces that with a single rule. Every donation to a party, a candidate or an MP is reported within 24 hours of receipt, whatever its size, and the Electoral Commission publishes it the same day. Every donor who gives more than £500 to a party, candidate or MP in a year is named on the public register, with every donation they made. Donations from people who give less are published as amounts and counts, so a supporter who gives £5 is not listed by name.
5.2 — Offers Published
Any offer of money, hospitality or favour made in exchange for access, an honour, a policy position or a contract is itself a reportable event. It is published within 24 hours with the name of the person making it. Taking up such an offer is already bribery. Publishing the offer shows who is trying to buy influence.
5.3 — BUILD’s Own Rule
BUILD holds itself to a stricter standard than it asks Parliament to legislate. BUILD accepts donations only from individuals, capped at £5 per person per year, and nothing from any company, union, trust or foreign donor (Agreement with Voters, clause 5). Whether that cap should become law for every party is a question for the citizens’ assembly on party funding, and BUILD will argue for it there.
Pillar 6: Councillors and Conflicts
6.1 — If You Have Taken Their Money, You Do Not Vote
Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 already bars a councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest from discussing or voting on the matter. But that interest covers only the councillor’s own and their spouse’s or partner’s finances. BUILD widens it. A councillor may not take part in any decision on a planning application, contract or licence if, in the past five years, they have received a donation, gift, hospitality or paid work from the applicant or its directors, or if a close family member has. Taking part anyway is already an offence under section 34, and that stays.
6.2 — Sanctions That Bite
Councils get the power the Committee on Standards in Public Life recommended in 2019: to suspend a councillor without allowance for up to six months, on the recommendation of an independent person. A councillor suspended twice in one term is disqualified from standing at the next election.
Pillar 7: Plain-English Law
7.1 — A Summary Parliament Votes On
Every bill carries a plain-English summary: what it changes, who it affects and when. The summary is written to be understood by a 16-year-old, tested with readers before second reading, and amended alongside the bill. Unlike today’s Explanatory Notes, it is debated and voted on, and it is published with the Act. The Act remains the law, and a court may use the summary to understand what Parliament intended.
7.2 — If You Can’t Explain It, It Isn’t Finished
A bill whose summary cannot state plainly what it does is not ready to become law. The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel’s Good Law initiative already set out that aim. BUILD puts it into statute, with an annual public report on readability for every Act passed that year.
The Principle
An MP works for the people who elected them. Those people should be able to see every vote, every donation, every interest and every meeting, and should be able to remove an MP who has lost their confidence without waiting five years.
One confidence vote every November. A recall petition for any reason, at 10%. Voting records published within an hour. Donations reported within 24 hours. Interests declared before you stand and before you speak. No second jobs. Councillors who have taken an applicant’s money do not vote on the application. Laws come with a summary a 16-year-old can read.
This is what BUILD candidates already promise in the Agreement with Voters. This charter makes it the law for every MP.
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BUILD UK
builduk.club
September 2026
Download this charter as a document (.docx) — the paper as written. What follows is the same text, readable.