Prime Minister's Questions
In 1953, when Winston Churchill (in his late 70s at the time) was prime minister, it was agreed that questions would be submitted on fixed days (Tuesdays and Thursdays).
[4] The very first question was delivered by Labour MP Fenner Brockway, asking to which minister the UK ambassador to South Africa would be responsible.
MPs who are not selected may be chosen to ask a supplementary question if they "catch the eye" of the speaker, which is done by standing and sitting immediately before the prime minister gives an answer.
The first formal question on the Order Paper, posed by simply saying "number one, Mr [or Madam] Speaker", is usually to ask the prime minister "if he [she] will list his [her] engagements for the day".
During the Iraq War, Tony Blair introduced the practice of naming any British military personnel who had been killed in service since the last time he addressed the House.
The last such suspension occurred on 25 February 2009 when the speaker, at the request of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, suspended the Commons as a mark of respect following the unexpected death of Opposition leader David Cameron's son.
From 1992 to 2020, a convention was in place that if either the prime minister or the leader of the opposition is absent, the other faction would nominate someone to stand, meaning that both sides were stood in for.
[16] This precedent was broken at Keir Starmer's first PMQs as leader of the opposition, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalised due to illness with COVID-19.
As a result, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Shadow First Secretary of State Angela Rayner stood in for him putting questions to Johnson.
For example, Roy Hattersley, the deputy leader of the Labour Party between 1983 and 1992, stood in for Neil Kinnock facing Margaret Thatcher on 38 occasions between February 1984 and July 1990.
[19] Boris Johnson also became the first prime minister to answer PMQs outside the chamber virtually after having been told to isolate after meeting with Lee Anderson who later tested positive for COVID-19.
Regular, fixed sessions have taken place since 1961, and the list below outlines the prime ministers since 1961 and opposition party leaders they faced across the floor of the House of Commons, as well as the secondary opposition leader since (usually the leader of third largest party within the House of Commons): In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister's Questions is broadcast live via cameras within the Press gallery inside the House of Commons on domestic national television channels BBC Two, the BBC News Channel, BBC Parliament, Sky News and GB News.
[citation needed] In the United States, Prime Minister's Questions is broadcast live on the national C-SPAN television network.
[citation needed] Prime Minister's Questions has been spoofed on the American late-night television sketch comedy Saturday Night Live.
[25] In a C-SPAN interview in 1991, shortly after the network started to broadcast Prime Minister's Questions, then US President George H. W. Bush said, "I count my blessings for the fact I don't have to go into that pit that John Major stands in, nose-to-nose with the opposition, all yelling at each other.
"[26] Worldwide, Prime Minister's Questions is broadcast live via the official British Parliament website parliamentlive.tv, in visual and audio form.
