Currently, when an MP decides to change sides / defect from the Party they were voted into this does not trigger an automatic process to cause a by-election within their constituency.

However I believe that these rules should be changed to reflect that once the MP has changed party / defected, this should trigger an almost automatic by-election within their constituency as they are no longer standing for in many cases what their constituents voted for, if we take two opinions , the first which people vote for a particular party, then they will vote for the MP representing that Party in their constituency, once the MP changes Party, this is no longer true to the votes within that constituency, party manifesto for one. If the same election was to take place and that MP was a different Party than they were voted in originally this may change the results completely in that area.

Secondly, people may vote for a particular MP, this is also true in some cases, however we would hope that MP would have similar views to the Party they were a member of and assuming the defection or change then this is also no longer true.

I feel a positive solution would be to hold a by-election within their constituency within a very short period of time after the MP changes/defects say 30 days, this rule if brought into effect would also deter the MP from defecting so readily.