Inside Westminster — Week of 21 September 2026

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 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading, decided by 270 to 286. The most one-sided was Representation of the People Bill: Third Reading (411 to 102).

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:

• Representation of the People Bill — Committee stage.
• Public Office (Accountability) Bill — Committee stage.
• Armed Forces Bill — Report stage.
• Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [HL] — Committee stage.

See all bills currently before Parliament.

Petitions gaining traction

5 petitions have passed the 100,000 mark that triggers consideration for a debate. The most-signed open petitions were:

• Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership — 213,174 signatures.
• Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks — 125,141 signatures.
• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth — 113,246 signatures.
• Support the Ceramics Industry and protect British manufacturing jobs and skills — 111,095 signatures.
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases — 105,666 signatures.

See the petitions gaining traction and how petitions work.

This is a digest, not the full picture — committee work and Lords scrutiny continue in parallel.

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.