Does PMQs actually matter?

By Lisa Nandy MP / @lisanandy

Much has been made by the media of whether Ed Miliband is performing well at PMQs. I happen to think he is, but a question posed to me on Radio 5 Live by a journalist this week made me wonder if the real question is ‘does it actually matter’?

PMQs is an important event – both for backbenchers and for democracy. It is the only chance you have as a backbencher to challenge the Prime Minister directly and it is particularly important for opposition MPs. It can give you a chance to raise the status of an issue – as I tried to do last week with gangmasters – so I’m not for a minute suggesting it shouldn’t happen.

Yet it undeniably descends into pantomime every week which is problematic because it means coverage of the worst of Parliament is broadcast weekly to the nation, showing rows of politicians jeering and cheering as their leaders try to outquip each other.

This is partly why I think Ed Miliband is doing well, as over the last few weeks he’s consistently chosen to focus on things that people are contacting us about – school sports, housing benefit, tuition fees to name a few. By doing that he’s had some impact – persuading Cameron to pause for thought, for example on school sports funding.

But the test by which both leaders are judged is much more about getting one over on each other than about real policy impact. William Hague is a classic example of someone who was widely thought to be very good at PMQs – sharp and witty – but it didn’t do him much good in the long term.

John Harris wrote this week in the Guardian that the tests politicians are subjected to by the media – including PMQs – leave us treating party leaders like football managers – hounding them out of office even when they’re doing well, and supporting them even when they’re not.

Yet if PMQs isn’t the way for the public to judge their leaders, the question remains, what is? Harris’ point seems to be that we all need to step back and take a longer term view of party leaders. Bobby Kennedy was really the last politician to go out and inspire the people by reaching out to them. In an age of 24 hour media, where the media is the prism through which most people view their party leaders, I’m not sure if that’s possible, but all party leaders need to re-think the way they connect with the public and reach out in new and innovative ways.