This Week in Westminster — w/c 31 August 2026
What Parliament actually did this week — recorded votes, bills on the move, and the petitions the public is pushing — drawn from the official record.
31 August 2026 · 6 min read
A snapshot of the parliamentary week, drawn from the public record.
How the Commons voted
The Commons recorded 12 divisions in the period covered. The closest was Motion to sit in private, decided by 1 to 79. The most one-sided was Representation of the People Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 88 (85 to 427).
See the latest Commons votes in full, and our guide to how MPs vote.
Bills before Parliament
Several bills advanced through the stages set out in our guide to how a bill becomes law:
- Health Bill — Report stage.
- Railways Bill — Committee stage.
- Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL] — Report stage.
- Armed Forces Bill — Committee stage.
See all bills currently before Parliament.
Petitions gaining traction
8 petitions have passed the 100,000 mark that triggers consideration for a debate. The most-signed open petitions were:
- Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership — 244,975 signatures.
- Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office — 206,775 signatures.
- Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership — 202,790 signatures.
- Legislate to ban FPNs and prosecutions related to school attendance — 131,819 signatures.
- Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks — 120,220 signatures.
See the petitions gaining traction and how petitions work.
None of this is the whole of Parliament’s work, but it captures the shape of a normal sitting week.
Source: UK Parliament open data (Commons Votes, Bills and Petitions services), used under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0. Figures reflect the public record at the time of the last site update.