LONDON-(MaraviPost)-Witnessed a bruising Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch humiliated outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The clash marked the first time the two faced each other since Starmer announced his resignation as Labour leader days earlier.
Badenoch opened by highlighting Labour’s victory in the Makerfield by-election, which returned Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to Parliament and positioned him to succeed Starmer.
She contrasted that result with the Conservative win in Aberdeen South on the same day to frame the political scoreboard.
“I want to start by congratulating the Prime Minister,” Badenoch told the Commons, her voice carrying across the chamber.
“He’s the other party leader who won a by-election last week,” she continued, before adding the sting.
“Although I think I’m much happier with my new MP than he is,” Badenoch said, drawing laughter from Conservative benches.
Starmer insisted he was genuinely pleased with the Makerfield result, but Badenoch seized on the moment.
“If it’s all going so fine, why is he resigning?” she asked, prompting a ripple of jeers from the opposition.
The Tory leader then turned her fire on Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who was widely tipped to become Chancellor under a Burnham premiership.
Miliband was set to be rewarded for “betraying” Starmer, Badenoch claimed, echoing his earlier leadership contest against his brother David.
“It’s not the first time he’s betrayed someone close to him, is it?” she asked, as Labour MPs shifted uncomfortably.
Badenoch widened her attack to Starmer’s backbenchers, accusing them of disloyalty.
“I’ve never seen this much excitement on the Labour benches, cheering so loudly while there are 400 knives stuck in his back,” she declared.
“Shame on them! Shame on them!” she shouted, her words echoing in the packed House.
The Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, intervened when Badenoch branded Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson a “spiteful class warrior”.
He demanded “a little bit more decorum and respect” as the chamber grew rowdy.
Badenoch pressed on, citing a poll that found “0% of teachers think the Education Secretary is doing a good job”.
“She taxed private schools to pay for more teachers, but the number of teachers has gone down,” she argued.
“It turns out appointing a spiteful class warrior as Education Secretary was a disaster,” Badenoch concluded.
Starmer rose to defend Phillipson, describing her upbringing in poverty and calling her story one of social mobility and success.
“I am so proud that she is sitting there and so should everyone in this country who cares about social mobility,” he responded.
On defence, Badenoch questioned why the Defence Secretary had resigned the day after Starmer claimed funding was secure.
“What changed?” she asked, as Starmer pointed to £270 billion in defence spending over the Parliament.
He also noted the Tories’ poor showing in Gorton and Denton and Makerfield by-election results.
Downing Street later confirmed Starmer intended to remain on the backbenches for the rest of the Parliament rather than take a Cabinet role.
“This is the end of my journey, but this is not the end of yours,” Starmer had told his ministers, according to his spokesman.
Meanwhile, more than 100 Labour MPs voiced concern about Burnham’s economic plans, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones revealed.
Jones said he had pressed Burnham for reassurances on borrowing and economic policy before ruling himself out of the leadership race.
The uncertainty left Westminster braced for a leadership transition, with Burnham circling Number 10 as Starmer prepared his final weeks in office.
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