Chair of the Parliamentary Labour party, Tony Lloyd, has laid out the arrangements for tonight’s PLP hustings.

In a letter to PLP members, Lloyd set out detailed arrangements for the event, held a stone’s throw away from the House of Commons at Church House.

The candidates will draw lots to decide where they sit and in which order they speak. They will then make opening statements for which they will have strictly 2 minutes, with a further 2 minutes for closing contributions.

Lloyd has said that questions to the candidates won’t be vetted, but members will have to submit their question topics before the event.

“I am proposing that anyone who wants to ask a question email me the broad theme of their question so I can make sure we cover as many topics as possible and avoid repetition.

“I am obviously not going to start vetting subjects and questions, but it will in practical terms help me to make sure we don’t end up with the same question being asked several times. It will also help me judge which are the most important topics we all want to see covered.”

There will be as many questions as time allows before MPs return to the House for when the Whip comes on at 9pm. Questions will be taken one at a time and candidates will rotate the order in which they speak, to allow everyone to speak first.

Lloyd has apologised for the ‘somewhat bureaucratic’ process but defends it in the interest of the meeting. “I do think it’s in our collective best interest to make Monday as broad a discussion as possible.”