Back in Westminster, work continues - but there is a potentially monumental event coming around the corner.

Tomorrow, voters in Makerfield - a constituency in north-west England that encompasses much of Wigan - will decide who their new MP is.

But the outcome of this by-election holds national significance, triggered as it was by the strategic resignation of Labour MP Josh Simon.

It came last month during a period of peril for Starmer's premiership, as a spate of ministers resigned and dozens of MPs called for him to stand down after Labour's poor performance in May's elections.

Simons was one of those critical MPs - and he says he stood down deliberately to give Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham a shot at returning to Parliament, clearing the way for him to launch a leadership challenge.

Andy Burnham has confirmed that he would seek to enter any potential Labour leadership contest should he win this by-election.

• You can read about all of the Makerfield by-election candidates and their short manifestos here.

On Tuesday, as Starmer met with Zelensky, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced it was investigating reports that a Russian warship fired warning shots near a British yacht in the English Channel.

The Russian Defence Ministry later confirmed the crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich had fired into the yacht's path with rifles after making several attempts to contact the vessel over the radio and launching warning flares.

The PM said it was “reckless” for the Grigorovich to open fire, but stressed that there was no sign it was anything “more sinister” than a drifting vessel.

The incident happened around 20 nautical miles - around 23 standard miles - south of the Isle of Wight, outside of UK territorial waters.

Yesterday's incident came days after Royal Marine Commandos intercepted a Russian shadow fleet tanker carrying sanctioned oil in the Channel on Sunday, although the MoD said the two were not linked.

Image source, pa

Image source, Reuters

It was a difficult week at home for Keir Starmer last week following the resignation of two senior defence ministers, but this week he has turned his attention to the world stage with the G7 summit in France.

• Reminder: The G7 (Group of Seven) is an organisation of the world's seven largest so-called "advanced" economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system.

The gathering of world leaders kicked off in the French spa town of Évian-les-Bains on Monday and right off the bat, Starmer sought to pile more pressure on Russia with the introduction of new sanctions and greater energy support for Ukraine.

He met with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky yesterday, and agreed there's a “collective resolve” to put pressure on Vladimir Putin. Starmer also said it was “vital" G7 countries give Kyiv the support it needs to continue to drive back Russian forces, according to Downing Street.

But as is so often the case, the summit has largely been dominated by Donald Trump and the war in Iran - with the president sharing further details about the deal reached by the US and Iran over the weekend.

At the summit, Starmer said the UK would play its "full part" in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping lane that was choked off by Iran at the beginning of the conflict in February.

Image source, PA Media

Keir Starmer is in France at the G7 summit, meaning deputy PM David Lammy will step up to the dispatch box today. He'll face shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho.

Lammy is the justice secretary and has been the Labour MP for Tottenham since June 2000.

He has deputised for Starmer at PMQs before, including in November last year when he was asked a series of tough questions over the mistaken release of a prisoner, resulting in a political fallout.

Coutinho is the shadow energy secretary and shadow equalities minister. She has been the Conservative MP for East Surrey since December 2019.

Kemi Badenoch chose not to appoint a deputy when she assembled her frontbench team, and rotates who stands in for her at PMQs - an approach which is seen as keeping Labour on its toes.

Image source, PA Media

It's Wednesday, which means MPs in Westminster get their weekly chance to ask questions directly to the government.

Usually, it's the prime minister and leader of the opposition who go face-to-face in the House of Commons. But with Keir Starmer away in France for the G7 summit (more on that later), he and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch are passing the baton today.

So, answering questions today will be Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, with shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho across the dispatch box.

As ever, we don't know what questions will be asked, but in our next few posts we will bring you up to speed on the key happenings in Westminster over the last week.

Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions will be streamed at the top of this page from 12:00, and we'll be bringing you updates and analysis from the House of Commons throughout the session.