Ashford MP Damian Green will be thrust into the political limelight this week when he stands in for Theresa May at Prime Minister's Questions.

The MP will step in on Wednesday to deputise for the PM as she welcomes the King and Queen of Spain to London.

His first appearance at the dispatch box as deputy comes at a testing time for the party with speculation continuing over the prospect of the PM facing a leadership challenge.

It will also be the day after Mrs May makes a keynote speech in which she is expected to invite other parties to contribute to policy debates - an idea that has already drawn some criticism.

Asked about the prospects of taking PMQs, Mr Green told KM Group political editor Paul Francis recently: “I am both looking forward to it and there is an element of trepidation about it too.”

The gladiatorial nature of the weekly event makes PMQs one of the toughest political challenges and most leaders admit - usually on their retirement or resignation - that they found the 30 minute ritual something they dread.

On his last session before MPs, Labour PM Tony Blair said: "This is still the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster.”

And success in the chamber does not always translate to the wider public. Conservative leader William Hague regularly got the better of Tony Blair but it did his party no good.

The former Kent MP Michael Howard admitted that he found it hard to score points against Mr Blair. "Tony Blair was master of the art and usually got the better of me, although I did have my moments,” he said.

It is not known who Mr Green will be up against from the Labour opposition. By convention, the party leader also steps aside and is replaced by a frontbencher.