First Minister's Questions (Senedd)

First Minister's Questions (FMQs; Welsh: Cwestiynau i'r prif weinidog) is the weekly questioning of the First Minister of Wales in the Senedd (the Welsh parliament). It serves the purpose of holding the Welsh Government to account and the format has evolved over time. First Minister's Questions follows in some of the traditions of Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. Other devolved administrations in the United Kingdom also have sessions for the question times of their leaders that take the same name. The session was initially titled First Secretary's Questions, and was renamed when the position of First Secretary for Wales was renamed to First Minister in 2000.^[1]

Procedure and format

There are rules and procedures about who can submit a question. The Presiding Officer selects questions from all of those lodged by members of the Senedd (MSs).

The requirement in the standing orders to hold FMQs was temporarily suspended in 2020.^[2]

History

Establishment of the National Assembly

Questions to the First Secretary were first held in May 1999, soon after the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election.^[3]

Topics covered

Topics covered at FMQs have included the 2024 United Kingdom general election betting scandal, relations with the European Union and the Barnett formula.^[4][5][6]