Ministerial Question Time
Political Studies: Edexcel A Level, topic 9.4.4
Ministerial Question Time
Question time gives members of the House of Commons and Lords the chance to question the government and hold ministers to account for their department's actions.
Minister's questions
- Departmental oral questions take place Monday to Thursday for one hour, with each government department answering on a rota approximately once every five sitting weeks.
- Ministers attend to answer questions from MPs on their department's work, though they are not required to give direct answers.
- In the House of Lords, question time lasts up to 30 minutes with a maximum of four oral questions per day, addressed to the government as a whole rather than specific departments.
Prime Minister's questions
- Prime Minister's questions takes place every Wednesday for 30 minutes.
- MPs question the Prime Minister on issues which they are expected to address.
- The opposition leader will ask six questions of the Prime Minister, and then other MPs from all parties can ask follow up questions.
- Prime Minister's questions is an important way of scrutinising the government and receiving direct answers.
- The PM does not know questions in advance and so must be briefed in detail on major issues in the public interest.
Nature of Prime Minister's questions
- Prime Minister's questions is often unruly and is arguably more about political point scoring than effective scrutiny of the Prime Minister and government.
- Prime Minister's questions has been named 'Punch and Judy' politics because it becomes a shouting match between politicians in front of the media.
Nature of Prime Minister's questions 2
- MPs from the government's party will ask the Prime Minister planted questions to make the government and the PM appear strong in front of voters.
- PM David Cameron's aides sent emails round to Conservative MPs suggesting questions for them to ask at Prime Minister's Questions including on the benefits of the government's economic policies.
Test yourself on Ministerial Question Time
Which of these statements are true about Prime Minister's Questions?
How many questions can the leader of the opposition ask to the Prime Minister during PMQs?