Petitions/Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership
StatusOngoing
Opened1 Apr 2026
Closes
Government responseResponded
Parliamentary debateScheduled · 14 Sept 2026
Milestones 10,000 100,000

Hold a binding national referendum on whether the water industry should be returned to public ownership. Water is a basic human necessity; we believe our privatised system has failed, so the public should decide who owns and controls it.

Private water companies have about 62 million captive customers whose bills have delivered over £85 Bn to shareholders; money that in public ownership could have been spent on fixing our infrastructure. No other country in the world has privatised water like this. We believe that proposed government reforms to regulation show that water company owners are being favoured over the public, and this is not right in a democracy. A referendum would give the public back its voice about its water.

190,027Total signatures
Select your constituency →
10,000
100,000

Government response

Nationalisation would take years and involve complex legal processes, diverting effort from cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas. We are taking action now through stronger regulation and enforcement.

Constituency engagement ranking

Charlie Maynard
1Charlie Maynard MP
Witney
2,351
Rosie Duffield
2Rosie Duffield MP
Canterbury
2,135
Sir Roger Gale
3Sir Roger Gale MP
Herne Bay and Sandwich
1,074
Calum Miller
4Calum Miller MP
Bicester and Woodstock
1,029
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
5Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP
North Cotswolds
928
Sean Woodcock
6Sean Woodcock MP
Banbury
870
Layla Moran
7Layla Moran MP
Oxford West and Abingdon
850
Siân Berry
8Siân Berry MP
Brighton Pavilion
839
Olly Glover
9Olly Glover MP
Didcot and Wantage
823
Helena Dollimore
10Helena Dollimore MP
Hastings and Rye
815