Speaker Bercow supports moving PMQs to Thursday - and perhaps re-instating it as a twice weekly fixture

Last month it was reported that Shadow Leader of the House Sir George Young was keen to move Prime Minister's Question Time to Thursdays.

According to the Independent, the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has not only backed that proposal, but suggested that it should perhaps be re-instated as twice-weekly fixture, as it was prior to 1997:

"The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, is pressing for Prime Minister’s Question Time to be moved from Wednesdays to Thursdays – or even to take place twice a week. Mr Bercow believes the changes would help boost interest in Parliament and increase the number of MPs who go into the Commons chamber.

"In a lecture to the Hansard Society, Mr Bercow said he “could see some merit” both in moving PMQs to Thursday and in returning it to a twice a week event. The Speaker acknowledged there would be “some resistance” to the idea of two sessions – not least from the party leaders who had to prepare for the clashes. But he thinks that twice-weekly sessions would maximise media interest in the Commons and help to make PMQs more topical.

"Mr Bercow argues that moving PMQs to Thursdays would bring the parliamentary week to a more dramatic end. He fears that staging PMQs on Wednesdays means the week’s events tail off after then, with many MPs leaving Westminster for their constituencies early on Thursdays."

Jonathan Isaby