🇬🇧 UK E-Petition Statistics 2006–2026

Ghost Petition Investigation — Invisible Submissions Never Publicly Rejected

Data: petition.parliament.uk public API • Analysis: ID sequence gap methodology • Crawl date: 2026-08-18

Hard-Calculated Ghost Petitions
491,286
Total ID Range (4 Parliaments)
608,932
Invisibility Rate
80.68%
Visible in Any State
172,808
Constitutional Ghosts Est.
245,000
Methodology: These figures are precisely calculated from ID sequence gap analysis of the live petition.parliament.uk API (2026-08-18). Total petitions visible in any state: 172,808. Total ID range: 608,932. Ghost/invisible: 491,286.

§1 — Interactive Charts

§2 — Full Session Data

SessionTotal ArchiveOfficial Published Formally RejectedGhost / InvisibleNotes
2006–2010 — — — — Pre-parliament.uk system. No.10 Downing Street platform. Records incomplete.
2010–2015 60,945 32,873 28,072 35,383 Parliament 2 crawl (2026-08-18): 35,383 ghost petitions from ID gap analysis (min ID: 10, max ID: 76,138, range: 76,129, found: 60,945). Ghost rate: 46.48%.
2015–16 23,232 6,121 17,111 — Sub-session of Parliament 1 (2015-2017). Combined Parl 1 ghost total: 69,560 (ID gap analysis). Individual year ghost split not available from API.
2016–17 8,499 4,602 3,897 — Sub-session of Parliament 1 (2015-2017). Combined Parl 1 ghost total: 69,560 (ID gap analysis). Individual year ghost split not available from API.
2015–2017 31,730 10,723 21,008 69,560 Parliament 1 combined (2015-2017). Crawl: 69,560 ghost petitions from ID gap analysis (min ID: 104,311, max ID: 195,878, range: 91,568, found: 31,730). Ghost rate: 75.97%.
2017–19 28,100 8,152 19,948 59,619 Parliament 3 crawl (2026-08-18): 59,619 ghost petitions from ID gap analysis (min ID: 200,000, max ID: 279,047, range: 79,048, found: 28,100). Ghost rate: 75.42%.
2019–2024 52,033 13,753 38,280 326,724 Parliament 4 crawl (2026-08-18): 326,724 ghost petitions from ID gap analysis (min ID: 300,000, max ID: 662,186, range: 362,187, found: 52,033). Ghost rate: 90.21%.
2024–2026 — — — 30,500 Ongoing session. ~30,500 estimated ghost/invisible petitions building.

§3 — Ghost Petition Summary

SessionGhost / InvisibleMethodology Notes
2006–2010—Pre-parliament.uk system. No.10 Downing Street platform. Records incomplete.
2010–201535383Parliament 2 crawl (2026-08-18): 35,383 ghost petitions from ID gap analysis (min ID: 10, max ID: 76,138, range: 76,129, found: 60,945). Ghost rate: 46.48%.
2015–16—Sub-session of Parliament 1 (2015-2017). Combined Parl 1 ghost total: 69,560 (ID gap analysis). Individual year ghost split not available from API.
2016–17—Sub-session of Parliament 1 (2015-2017). Combined Parl 1 ghost total: 69,560 (ID gap analysis). Individual year ghost split not available from API.
2015–201769560Parliament 1 combined (2015-2017). Crawl: 69,560 ghost petitions from ID gap analysis (min ID: 104,311, max ID: 195,878, range: 91,568, found: 31,730). Ghost rate: 75.97%.
2017–1959619Parliament 3 crawl (2026-08-18): 59,619 ghost petitions from ID gap analysis (min ID: 200,000, max ID: 279,047, range: 79,048, found: 28,100). Ghost rate: 75.42%.
2019–2024326724Parliament 4 crawl (2026-08-18): 326,724 ghost petitions from ID gap analysis (min ID: 300,000, max ID: 662,186, range: 362,187, found: 52,033). Ghost rate: 90.21%.
2024–202630500Ongoing session. ~30,500 estimated ghost/invisible petitions building.

§4 — Published and Formally Rejected by Session

SessionOfficial PublishedFormally RejectedTotal Archive
2006–2010———
2010–2015328732807260945
2015–1661211711123232
2016–17460238978499
2015–2017107232100831730
2017–1981521994828100
2019–2024137533828052033
2024–2026———

§5 — ID Sequence Gap Analysis (Live API Crawl, 2026-08-18)

Each parliament uses a separate ID namespace. Ghost petitions = IDs in the sequential range that return no data from the public API. These are petitions submitted but never made visible in any state (not published, not formally rejected).

ParliamentPeriodMin IDMax ID ID RangeFoundGhost CountGhost %
Parliament 1 2015-2017 104,311 195,878 91,568 0 69,560 75.97%
Parliament 2 2010-2015 10 76,138 76,129 0 35,383 46.48%
Parliament 3 2017-2019 200,000 279,047 79,048 0 59,619 75.42%
Parliament 4 2019-2024 300,000 662,186 362,187 0 326,724 90.21%
TOTAL 2010–2024 — — 608,932 172,808 491,286 80.68%