Question time

This article is about the parliamentary concept. For the British television programme, see Question Time (TV programme). For the painting, see Devolved Parliament (Banksy).

Question time is a question-and-answer session on the floor of a legislature, whereby a minister takes questions from Members of Parliament. The practice exists in some form in most parliamentary democracies, but is particularly associated with the Westminster system; in such systems, it is usually a daily feature of the order paper, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances (usually only with the agreement of the opposition). The United Kingdom and some other countries have special question times for asking questions to the Prime Minister.

In practice, the questions asked in question time are sometimes pre-arranged by party leaders, although questions are usually without notice. Questions from government backbenchers are either intended to allow the Minister to discuss the virtues of government policy, or to attack the opposition. Question time is often widely broadcast on national radio and television, making it one of the main opportunities for MPs (particularly in the opposition) to get their views across to the public.

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