Photo by House of Commons
There’s one more PMQs to go this year before the Christmas recess, but the end-of-term vibes have started early. From Kemi Badenoch choosing to deliver what was essentially an end-of-year report card for the Labour government to the frequent heckles from all corners of the House earning multiple reprimands from the Speaker (“we don’t need the pantomime auditions”), one got the sense that MPs are (like much of the rest of the country) counting down the days.
So what did we learn? Firstly, Badenoch really is getting better at her role. Her line of questioning today wasn’t particular original, and was in no small part helped by the continuing chaos surrounding Keir Starmer’s Downing Street (such as, for example, Labour MPs describing their leader as a “caretaker prime minister”). But what distinctly improved her performance was her demeanour: confident, calm, cheerful – and determined not to be wound up by Starmer’s ongoing efforts to avoid answering the questions. “Wait for it, wait for it,” she said, laughing, at one moment of particularly vocal interjections from the backbenches. She looked relaxed – in marked contrast from the fury we often see when Badenoch is at the despatch box. More than that, she looked like she was actually enjoying herself.
Starmer, in contrast, did not. “We’re concentrating on what matters to the country, she’s trying to save her job,” he retorted at one point – not the best direction to go in as the same could be said of him.
The Tory leader’s questions themselves were a cherry-picked tour of the cabinet’s weak spots: energy bills, teacher recruitment, police officer numbers and NHS appointments lost to strike action. There are positive stories the government can tell on all of these issues (five million extra appointments, as both Starmer and Wes Streeting frequently like to remind us), but the benefit of being opposition leader is you get to frame questions your way. And over a year into the job, Badenoch took full advantage of that. She seemed to particularly relish saying “wrong!” in the manor of slightly sadistic quiz show host when Starmer tried to spin the stats his way. And for once, she didn’t rise to the inevitable reference to her predecessor-but-one, when Starmer jibed that she was “auditioning for the Liz Truss show”.
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The Prime Minister’s strongest moment was pointing out that 21 ex Tory MPs have now defected to the party of Nigel Farage. Although, one could argue this is less an attack against the Conservatives and more a sideswipe at Reform UK, which even some supporters now worry is adopting too many failed Tories for its insurgent brand to survive. But Badenoch refused to be rattled. It wasn’t the kind of PMQs face-off that reveals new insights or sets traps for the government, but it succeeded in drawing attention to Starmer’s question-dodging and the growing sense that he isn’t fully aware let alone in control of what’s going on in his government.
Revelation two from today is that Brexit is back on the political agenda. Or, at least, the customs union is, after the Liberal Democrats won a surprise victory yesterday with a 10-minute rule bill on rejoining a customs union with the EU – thanks in part to the votes of 13 Labour MPs including Treasury Committee Chair Meg Hillier. Ed Davey obviously went hard on that one, prompting a chorus of over-exaggerated “oooohs” from MPs by asking: “Does the Prime Minister fear that if he keeps opposing a customs union, in 12 months’ time he will not be standing there”. Starmer flagged Labour’s manifesto to commitments on staying out of the customs union and single market (not to mention its red line on free movement), whilst citing the (modest) trade deal with the US which customs union membership would unravel. But if he thought he’d skirted the issue, Plaid Cymru leader Liz Saville Roberts was up shortly to punch the bruise. Anyone making 2026 predictions might want to put the resurgence of the EU debate high on the list.
Two other shoutouts to Labour backbenchers go to Jim Dickson and Karl Turner, for very different reasons. Dickson, who represents Dartford, performed the weekly role of setting the stage for an attack on Farage, by drawing attention to the services cut by Reform-led Kent County Council and coining the (wincingly convoluted) backronym “Deluded, Over-confident, Gormless and Embarrassing” as an alternative for the DOGE unit. The name is unlikely to stick. But it did give Starmer a chance to remind the House about Farage’s ongoing row over racist comments he is said to have made at school, as well Reform’s Hampshire mayoral candidate saying David Lammy should “go back” to the Caribbean and the Staffordshire Council Leader who resigned over allegedly racist social media posts. There is little indication so far that these stories are chipping away at Reform’s support, but the polls do suggest the party has hit its ceiling, and continued scandals like this might work to discourage more voters from flocking to them.
Karl Turner, meanwhile, got the final question and a chance to challenge Starmer on the proposals to restrict jury trials. If this was about getting the backlog down, he asked, how about including a sunset clause into the plans? Starmer did not have an answer beyond stressing again how serious the courts backlog left by the Conservatives really is. One got the impression the Prime Minister (who used to be a lawyer, in case you didn’t know) isn’t entirely comfortable with the proposals himself. We’ll have to wait to the new year to see if opposition materialises into something more serious. But it’s worth remembering once again that on this, as with so many other issues, the government’s main obstacle isn’t the opposition parties – but its own MPs.
[Further reading: Who’s winning Labour’s shadow leadership competition?]
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