Keir Starmer has been facing MPs in his first Prime Minister's Questions since the election
In good-natured exchanges, Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak presses Starmer on support for Ukraine - the PM says he'll continue working cross-party on the issue
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey challenges Starmer on the future of social care, while SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn pushes him on the two-child benefit cap
Last night, Starmer suspended seven Labour MPs from the parliamentary party after they voted against the government on the benefit cap
Keir Starmer's first PMQs as prime minister... in 90 seconds
James Cleverly is the first Tory to officially announce he is running to be the next Conservative Party leader. Other candidates are expected to be announced in the coming days ahead of a Monday deadline, so here's a look at what the selection process looks like:
Paul Seddon
Politics reporter
Image source, PA MediaJames Cleverly has called for the Conservatives to show more “self-discipline”, after becoming the first MP to confirm he is standing to be the party's next leader.
The former home and foreign secretary blamed "too much time rowing amongst ourselves" for the party's election drubbing earlier this month.
He also called for the Tories to "expand our base of support" as they seek to recover from their worst-ever result in modern history.
More contenders are expected to announce their candidacy in the coming days, ahead of a Monday deadline to secure nominations.
Contenders need to get the backing of 10 colleagues to stand in the three-month contest to replace Rishi Sunak as leader.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he also said the party would need to broaden its appeal, and said the party "doesn't do mergers" when asked if it could move closer to Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
Much has changed since the last PMQs on 22 May, which took place a few hours before Rishi Sunak surprised the nation and called a general election.
The most obvious difference you'll notice is that the Conservatives and Labour have switched which side of the Commons they sit on, with Sir Keir Starmer's MPs now occupying the benches traditionally reserved for the governing party.
Labour now has 412 MPs, just shy of the record tallies achieved by Sir Tony Blair, so it will be standing room only for a fair few of them today.
Opposite them will be 121 remaining Tory MPs, alongside a newly bolstered Liberal Democrat contingency of 72.
Since the Lib Dems displaced the Scottish National Party as the third largest party in the Commons, leader Sir Ed Davey will be entitled to ask two questions at PMQs from now on.
Expect to see plenty of unfamiliar faces in the chamber. The election saw 335 people elected who have never served in Parliament before, the largest ever intake of newbies.
New MPs from Reform UK, the Green Party and other smaller parties will be hoping to catch the Speaker's eye to ask a question and make their mark.
Sir Keir Starmer has just left Downing Street and is making his way to the House of Commons for the his first PMQs as prime minister.
PMQs will kick off at 12:00 BST, so stay tuned as we'll be bringing you the latest from the Commons here.
Image source, PA Media
Image source, PA MediaJonathan Ashworth, a key ally of Keir Starmer and former Labour shadow minister, says the seven rebel Labour MPs took part in a "futile gesture" by voting for the amendment to lift the two-child benefit cap.
He tells the BBC they were elected on a manifesto which commits to not making promises they cannot keep and in which every spending decision is fully funded.
Ashworth now heads up the Labour Together think tank, after losing his Leicester South seat in a shock result for independent MP Shockat Adam.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he says the government has launched a review of child poverty and benefits and the seven MPs should have engaged with that process, rather than voting with opposition MPs.
"They knew there was no chance of this amendment passing, it was a gesture. That's not how you change policy."
Asked if the removal of the whip was an extreme reaction to just seven MPs rebelling, Ashworth says it was taken in the context of them failing to "defend" the first Labour King's Speech in 14 years.
Image source, PA MediaOne of the seven MPs thrown out of the parliamentary Labour Party yesterday tells the BBC she was suspended as part of a "macho virility test" by Prime Minister Keir Starmer over supporting an SNP amendment to scrap the two-child benefit limit.
Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South, says she was not told in advance she would have the whip withdrawn, but adds she would have voted for it anyway.
She told Radio 4's Today programme it was important to "use every opportunity" in Parliament to advocate against it, as millions more children are living in poverty as a result of the policy.
Sultana notes that many anti-poverty charities, think tanks, unions and even "Keir Starmer himself in his 2020 leadership bid", are in favour of removing the cap.
"If scrapping the cap isn’t an urgent priority for a Labour government, then we have to question what is?"
She adds that lifting the cap is affordable through increasing taxes on wealthy people, and that not doing so is a "political choice" - also noting that removing it was not ruled out in Labour's election manifesto.
The term "two-child benefit cap" is likely to come up in today's PMQs. So what is it?
In short, the two-child cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credits for a third child, with a few exemptions. These help families with the cost of raising a child.
The cap came into effect in 2017 under the Conservatives, and attracted criticism from anti-poverty campaigners. Figures show an estimated 1.6 million children were living in families affected by the policy.
The issue has been thorny for Labour: Sir Keir Starmer has said scrapping it would be unaffordable, however some MPs don't share that view and on Monday, seven Labour MPs were suspended from the parliamentary party for six months after voting against the government on the issue.
Chris Mason
Political editor
Image source, ReutersYou can demonstrate power with numbers in politics. But, boy, the real way to demonstrate it is in actions.
Less than three weeks on from the general election, and the prime minister has booted seven of his MPs out of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Crikey.
That is quite the statement of authority and intent – and brutal demonstration of his power.
The argument his team are making is that the party had been clear it would not be prioritising the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap.
That position had been stress-tested, they argue, in the build-up to the general election and the assembly of the party’s manifesto.
And, they add, potential rebels had been told very clearly in advance of the vote that if they voted against the government position, they would, to use the Westminster jargon, have the whip withdrawn.
This means they are suspended from the parliamentary party and will sit as independent MPs for at least six months.
Image source, EPALast week, Labour's plans for government were outlined in the King's Speech, the ceremonial opening of the new parliamentary session.
In recent days, MPs have been busy debating the proposals contained in the address.
Here are some of the key pledges it included:
You can read more about the plans unveiled in the King's Speech here.
Image source, ReutersHours after it became clear Rishi Sunak had led the Conservative Party to a historic defeat, he confirmed he would quit as leader - but that doesn't mean he's going to vanish from view any time soon.
The former prime minister has arranged to stay in post temporarily until his party can decide on a new leader, a process which isn't due to be over until 2 November.
So, while today's PMQs is the last before MPs go on their summer holidays, Sunak will be back at the Commons dispatch box as acting leader of the opposition in September.
The Tories have opted for an extended leadership election which goes beyond the parliamentary hiatus for party conference season, so there will be more stand-in work for Sunak to do in October as well.
In the coming months, all the attention in the Conservative Party will be on the candidates vying to replace Sunak - but get used to seeing the ex-PM a fair bit between now and November.
Image source, ReutersWelcome to our coverage of a somewhat new-look edition of Prime Minister's Questions.
Sir Keir Starmer has been turning up to the Commons on Wednesday afternoons to do the asking for more than four years - but from now on, he'll be in charge of the answering.
In around 90 minutes from now the Labour leader will face his first Commons grilling since guiding his party to victory on 4 July.
Leading the inquisition will be Rishi Sunak, who as temporary leader of the opposition will be in the unfamiliar role of posing the questions rather than batting them away.
There's also the matter of seating arrangements: Starmer will be installed where we are used to seeing Sunak, while Sunak will be positioned in Starmer's old seat.
We'll be bringing you updates throughout, so stay with us.