Prime Minister’s Questions will take a slightly different form today as deputies on both sides of the House of Commons take centre stage.
Neither Rishi Sunak nor Sir Keir Starmer will be pitted against each other at the dispatch box for Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
We take a look at why, who will take their place and at what time.
What time is Prime Minister’s Questions today?
PMQs will take place on Wednesday 29 March from midday as always in the House of Commons.
It normally lasts for half an hour, finishing at 12.30pm and can be watched live on the UK Parliament YouTube channel.
Who will be at the dispatch box today?
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, will replace Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, for PMQs.
And Labour’s Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, will take the place of party leader Sir Keir on the other side of the House.
Why are both party leaders absent from PMQ today?
Both Mr Sunak and Sir Keir are absent from Westminster as they will be attending the funeral of former speaker of the House of Commons Baroness Betty Boothroyd.
Lady Boothroyd, a former Labour MP, died last month at the age of 93.
The former professional dancer shattered more than 700 years of parliamentary tradition when she became the first woman to be elected speaker of the House of Commons in April 1992, staying on until October 2000, and remaining the only woman to have held this position.
Born to mill worker parents in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, she was an MP for 27 years before taking the seat as a Speaker and then went on to sit in the House of Lords for a further two decades.
Current Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, described Lady Boothroyd as “one of a kind” after her death while Mr Sunak said she was “a remarkable woman who dedicated her life to politics”.
Mourners from across the political spectrum, including the Prime Minister and Sir Keir, are expected to gather to pay their respects to the veteran politician at a funeral service near her home in Cambridgeshire.
