Westminster marks 10 years of e-petitions with keynote by Professor Leston-Bandeira

Professor Leston-Bandeira gives keynote speech in Westminster on the 10th anniversary of e-petitions to Parliament.

2025 marks 10 years since e-petitions to the UK Parliament were introduced. Since then, over 30 million people have signed e-petitions to parliament and every year over 10,000 e-petitions are considered. 

As part of the celebrations marking this important milestone, the UK Parliament held a reception in Speaker’s House at the Palace of Westminster, which welcomed past and current petitioners, MPs and staff of the Petitions Committee.  

Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira was invited to deliver a speech at the reception, following speeches by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle MP and by the Chair of the Petitions Committee, Jamie Stone MP. 

Professor Leston-Bandeira delivering keynote speech

This prestigious invitation indicates the high regard for Leston-Bandeira's critical research on petitions to parliament, as well as reflecting the long-term research collaboration she has had with the Petitions Committee. Professor Leston-Bandeira had already led a workshop in Leeds as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations earlier this year, focusing on seldom-heard communities. 

In her speech, Leston-Bandeira noted what distinguishes petitions to parliament. All petitions systems do three key things: (1) they identify a problem; (2) they identify the extent to which others see it as a problem; (3) they take it to whoever has the power to address the problem. It's this latter point that makes the UK Parliament's e-petitions system so much more effective than other systems, such as change.org.  

The reception was very well received and Leston-Bandeira had the opportunity to catch up with previous Chairs and Clerks of the Petitions Committee, as well as petitioners who have led inspiring campaigns to make a change to people’s lives. 

Professor Leston-Bandeira with Tinuke Abe and Clotilde Abe, petitioners to improve maternal care of black women

Professor Leston-Bandeira leads the projects Breaking barriers to engagement with parliaments and Developing Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments. She is a member of the Centre for Democratic Politics and can be found on LinkedIn here and BlueSky @estrangeirada.bsky.social.