If you want real, substantive answers to a question, prime minister’s questions is not the place to be. But if you want to see how politicians defend their positions and hold others to account, it is must-see politics.
Positions can be strengthened or damaged. Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, for example, owed his downfall partly to poor performances in his role questioning Tony Blair.
The key players take the event very seriously indeed. Teams carry out briefings and rehearse possible answers. Lists of the MPs asking questions are examined to work out what might be coming.
