BBC Parliament Channel
- Thread starter Newchodge
- Start date
Upvote
0
Upvote
0
Upvote
0
From BBC
Feel funny PMQs starting this late? It's happening because Parliament isn't back from its Christmas break until 14:30 GMT.
The question-and-answer session has taken place at mid-day on Wednesdays for decades now.
Today's session gets under way at 15:00 GMT.
It might have been even later, had the Hansard Society, set up to increase voter engagement, had had its way. Back in 2014 it recommended starting PMQs at a "peak" TV time on Wednesday, say 19:30, instead of its usual 12:00 slot.
Competing with the likes of Coronation Street, the idea was that the weekly toing and froing of then PM David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband would bring Westminster rivalry to a whole new audience.
It never happened.
Feel funny PMQs starting this late? It's happening because Parliament isn't back from its Christmas break until 14:30 GMT.
The question-and-answer session has taken place at mid-day on Wednesdays for decades now.
Today's session gets under way at 15:00 GMT.
It might have been even later, had the Hansard Society, set up to increase voter engagement, had had its way. Back in 2014 it recommended starting PMQs at a "peak" TV time on Wednesday, say 19:30, instead of its usual 12:00 slot.
Competing with the likes of Coronation Street, the idea was that the weekly toing and froing of then PM David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband would bring Westminster rivalry to a whole new audience.
It never happened.
Upvote
0
Its probably because it is the first sitting day of the week and, therefore, starts at 2.30pm which enables people who don't live in London to get to The House.
Upvote
0
D
Deleted member 59730
Even earlier A P Herbert suggested having the debates and divisions on a kind of football pool lottery to increase the public's interest in Parliament.
Upvote
0
Having a question out of the hat (after vetting) provided by the public with no prep time might be more useful
Upvote
0
I doubt it as only a super computer would be able to answer all the likely questions.
As an aside I tend to watch the exchanges between the PM and Starmer then switch off
Upvote
0
Similar threads
Latest Articles
-
70 years of director bans in six months: Companies House has stopped asking nicelyCompanies House published a release on August 6th 2026 that every company director should read...- Ozzy
- Updated:
- 7 min read
-
MTD for Income Tax: your first quarterly update is due 7 August.If you are a sole trader or landlord and your gross income from self-employment and property was...- maka
- Updated:
- 4 min read
-
Andy Burnham's Manifesto for Small Business, and How It Stacks Up Against Count BinfaceIf all goes to plan (or rather, to Labour's timetable), Andy Burnham will be sworn in as Prime...
- Ozzy
- Updated:
- 5 min read
-
SEO in the Age of AI: What UK Small Businesses Actually Need to KnowTL;DR Search has shifted from "ten blue links" to answer engines, and the click is dying...
- Ozzy
- Updated:
- 11 min read
-
What Carphone Warehouse, Microsoft and Uber Have in Common: They Started in a DownturnThere's a comforting myth that you need a booming economy to start something. Cheap money...
- Ozzy
- Updated:
- 3 min read