Theresa May’s trip to Bahrain this week has relegated Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions to a B-team affair, a contest that would normally take place between two deputies.
But in 2016 parliamentary traditions have been watered down somewhat.
With no number two to call on, the prime minister has asked the leader of the House of Commons, David Lidington, to take her place.
Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, has asked the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, to step up in a move that some are saying is a snub for the party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson.
Watson might have been hoping that Commons ritual would mean he would be propelled into the limelight this week. But it wasn’t to be.
“Obviously Tom would have been happy to stand in but he respects Jeremy’s decision,” a spokesman said.
A source from the leader’s office replied: “There is no hard or fast rule about who does PMQs in place of the leader. Emily is a very senior member of the shadow cabinet and she’ll do an excellent job.”
