Not one single mention of the local elections in today’s PMQs.
There was no reason for either of the Ks to give the results airplay – both leaders were shown to be catastrophic losers, both reviled by their voter base, both seeing their supporters quietly dispersing into the UK archipelago of identity and interest groups.
The drama, which has been dragging a little after the opening episodes, picked up the pace today with character development in both the PM and the leader of the opposition – thanks perhaps to a guest appearance from the disruptive anti-hero, Nigel ‘The Fox’ Farage. He got one of his rare PMQs, but his presence – especially on this, the eve of the local elections – was felt from the start.
By way of prologue, Dan Tomlinson told us that senior Tories were plotting “a deal, a pact, or a merger” of Reform and the Conservatives, and, in his partisan non-sequitur, that the only answer was to vote Labour. The PM, getting to his feet was put back in his place by the Speaker saying, “You’ve no responsibility for any of that.”
Reform’s Nigel Farage used PMQs to skewer Starmer over Labour’s hollow “smash the gangs” soundbite as the number of illegal Channel crossings this year sailed past 10,000 – a 40% surge on the same period last year. Farage blasted:
“Is it not time to admit that ‘smash the gangs’ was nothing more than an election slogan and not a policy. And isn’t it time to declare a national emergency?”
Rather than echoing Yvette Cooper’s now-routine excuse of “good weather” causing the crisis, Starmer swerved the question instead mocking Farage for “taking advice” from Liz Truss following reports of a recent meetings between the pair. A pertinent issue on the eve of the locals…
Kemi Badenoch at the 1922-ConHome bash last night:
“I did praise [Burnham] for his stamina, it was amazing. All I had to do was sit back and lie there. I didn’t have to do anything at all…”