BBC News
Chancellor George Osborne is taking centre stage for the first time at Prime Minister's Questions as he stands in for David Cameron.
Mr Osborne has spent 10 years beside Mr Cameron at parliament's showpiece occasion, first on the opposition benches and since 2010 in government.
He is fielding questions from MPs for 30 minutes.
For Labour, Hilary Benn is asking the questions - and making his first appearance at the event.
- Follow the build-up, PMQs and reaction and analysis on Politics Live
This is the first time Mr Osborne has deputised for Mr Cameron, who is continuing his European tour to lobby leaders over EU reform ahead of the upcoming in/out referendum in the UK.
During the coalition years, Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg would stand in for the PM when he was away, with former First Secretary of State William Hague stepping up when they were both absent.
Mr Osborne, who was made deputy prime minister in all but name after the election, has been tipped as Mr Cameron's successor, after the prime minister announced that he would not seek a third term in 2020.
Mr Cameron also named Home Secretary Theresa May and London Mayor Boris Johnson, now a Conservative MP, as potential future leaders.
What is prime minister's questions?
Each week on Wednesday afternoon the prime minister must come to the House of Commons to answer questions from backbench MPs and opposition leaders for half an hour.
This system was changed by Tony Blair's Labour government shortly after they came to power in May 1997. Previously PMQs took place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for 15 minutes.
Prime minister's questions follows a different format to those of questions to other ministers. MPs do not normally give the prime minister prior notice of the subject which they are going to raise.
This element of surprise allows opposition MPs, in particular, to try to catch the prime minister out with an awkward question. although they are not allowed to ask follow-up questions which limits their scrutinising powers.
Government backbenchers can normally be relied upon to ask a "helpful" question which will allow the prime minister to tell the House about successful government policies.
The relative performance of each of the main party leaders is closely watched and each is under great pressure to get the better of their opponent.
The names of the MPs who will get the chance to ask the prime minister a question are drawn in a weekly lottery.
The session will follow the usual Prime Minister's Questions format, whereby Mr Benn will have six questions - the traditional number afforded to the main opposition party - with which to grill Mr Osborne.
The floor will then open to backbench MPs to raise questions, which the chancellor will not have advance notice of.
Heidi Alexander, the Labour MP for Lewisham East, has been granted the first slot on the list.
Here is the full list of MPs on the order paper:
- Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East)
- Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire)
- David Lammy (Tottenham)
- Richard Harrington (Watford)
- Geraint Davies (Swansea West)
- David Rutley (Macclesfield)
- Johnny Mercer (Plymouth, Moor View)
- Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley)
- Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth)
- Henry Smith (Crawley)
- Richard Drax (South Dorset)
- Amanda Solloway (Derby North)
- Alan Mak (Havant)
- Jim Dowd (Lewisham West and Penge)
- Sir Gerald Howarth (Aldershot)
Mr Osborne has been accused by Labour of prioritising his "personal ambitions" over his day job as he prepares for PMQs, after the chancellor said he would not be responding to an opposition debate on productivity, taking place immediately after.
Shadow chancellor Chris Leslie said he was "very surprised" he would not be in the debate and suggested Mr Osborne should "rein in your own personal ambitions", during Treasury questions on Tuesday.
Responding, Mr Osborne said: "I never thought I'd say 'bring back Ed Balls'", before joking that Labour needed to work on the "productivity of its own front bench".
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