{"id":516934,"date":"2026-06-25T02:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T02:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/516934\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T02:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T02:02:14","slug":"badenoch-eschews-niceties-and-takes-lumps-out-of-starmers-cabinet-in-first-pmqs-after-quitting-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/516934\/","title":{"rendered":"Badenoch eschews niceties and takes lumps out of Starmer\u2019s cabinet in first PMQs after quitting \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Assuming the sky doesn\u2019t fall in and Makerfield MP Andy Burnham<\/a> does indeed become the next UK prime minister, Keir Starmer<\/a>\u2019s first prime minister\u2019s questions (PMQs) since his resignation statement should serve as a warning for his incoming successor: prepare for a brutal weekly battle at the dispatch box.<\/p>\n

Kemi Badenoch<\/a>, leader of the Conservative Party<\/a>, was in full, thrusting, combative mode at this week\u2019s PMQs set-piece, held each Wednesday at noon in the House of Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After a slow and uncertain start after becoming party leader in November 2024, the Tory opposition politician has since established herself. Now she seems to be nearing the peak of her powers as a notoriously pugilistic parliamentarian.<\/p>\n

Commons etiquette suggests it might be more usual for the opposition leader to show grace towards a departing prime minister. Not Badenoch. She tried to maul him and half his cabinet.<\/p>\n

Burnham should take note of Badenoch\u2019s growing confidence in these exchanges. One of his first challenges as prime minister when parliament returns in September from its upcoming summer recess may be to show he has the verve to cope with her.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, instead of being graceful towards the departing Starmer, she opened with a taunt. On the same day that Burnham won Makerfield, Tory candidate Douglas Lumsden won a byelection in Aberdeen South.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m much happier with my new MP than he [Starmer] is with his,\u201d said Badenoch.<\/p>\n

Then she began taking lumps out his cabinet.<\/p>\n

She turned her fire first on Ed Miliband<\/a>, a contender to be Burnham\u2019s chancellor, who is also well known for having outmanoeuvred his own brother to become Labour leader in 2010.<\/p>\n

\"KeirKeir Starmer at the dispatch box: ‘I shall miss these exchanges.’ Photograph: House of Commons\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Badenoch suggested Miliband had been treacherous to Starmer by plotting to get rid of him, so that Burnham could take his place. \u201cIt\u2019s not the first time he\u2019s betrayed someone close to him,\u201d she said, to gasps across the chamber.<\/p>\n

She then turned to education secretary Bridget Phillipson, whose story about having grown up in abject poverty in Sunderland is well known in British politics. Badenoch dismissed her as a \u201cspiteful class warrior\u201d who has been a \u201cdisaster\u201d as education secretary.<\/p>\n

Starmer defended her, referring passionately to her impoverished upbringing and painting her as an example of true social mobility: \u201cI\u2019m so proud that she is sitting there,\u201d he said, pointing to the government front bench.<\/p>\n

Instead of backing off, Badenoch doubled down: \u201cIf she knows so much about poor children, she shouldn\u2019t have given them fewer teachers.\u201d Cue more gasps.<\/p>\n

Badenoch attacked Labour MPs for backing the prime minister against her PMQs attacks, while many of them also wanted him to quit: \u201cIf it\u2019s all so fantastic, why is he resigning? They cheer so loudly for him now, while he has 400 knives stuck in his back. Shame on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this stage, Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle intervened to warn MPs (he meant Badenoch) to watch their tone and language, or they could have no complaint if the public used such aggressive language towards them.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Starmer ally says he will not run against Andy Burnham for Labour leadershipOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Starmer returned to the dispatch box with a wry smile: \u201cI shall miss these exchanges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sheer unpredictability of PMQs continued.<\/p>\n

Putney Labour MP Fleur Anderson, a former minister in the Northern Ireland office until Starmer sacked her, asked a question about heatwaves and climate change after revealing \u201ca mature tree fell on my house today\u201d.<\/p>\n

In another bizarre Burnham-themed intervention, Tory MP Desmond Swayne asked Starmer is if he knew the 1907 children\u2019s story about \u201cJim, who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a lion\u201d.<\/p>\n

The prime minister seemed utterly bemused.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, Starmer\u2019s political spokesman confirmed to Westminster journalists that the outgoing prime minister would stay on as an MP and, he suggested, would not serve in his successor\u2019s cabinet (there had been a sketchy, baseless rumour that he might be a contender to be foreign secretary).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Burnham will need to be on his game for PMQs from day one. Badenoch will come for him too.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mark Paul: Can Burnham be a better prime minster than Starmer?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Assuming the sky doesn\u2019t fall in and Makerfield MP Andy Burnham does indeed become the next UK prime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85530,61793,42,72084,1194,23577,1193,43,40,38,41,39,1192],"class_list":["post-516934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-andy-burnham","tag-conservative-and-unionist-party","tag-headlines","tag-house-of-commons","tag-keir-starmer","tag-kemi-badenoch","tag-labour-party-uk","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}