Badenoch pulls punches at first PMQs

The US election result provided the new Tory leader with some easy lines of attack.

Kemi Badenoch’s first PMQs cameo began as combatively as one may expect.

Following the backdrop of Donald Trump’s election to the Oval Office, the Leader of the Opposition seized the opportunity to capitalise on several open goals offered by the government, regarding its history with the newly elected US President.

The Conservative party leader asked the Prime Minister whether he had already apologised, or was planning to apologise, for his Foreign Secretary’s “scatological” comments regarding Trump. She proceeded to directly quote Lammy’s statement that the President-Elect was a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath”. The Prime Minister awkwardly ignored the probe.

But Badenoch wasn’t done yet. She then sarcastically quipped that she was “sure” Trump would be calling to thank the Government for sending its envoy of “North London activists” to canvas for his defeated adversary, before asking the Prime Minister whether he was willing to go beyond “student politics” and invite Donald Trump to address Parliament during his next visit to the UK – a question which Starmer, once again, ignored.

However, having pounced on the ammunition provided by previous Labour party gaffes, Badenoch faltered when addressing questions regarding defence spending. Her streak of slam-dunks ended abruptly when she claimed that the government did not mention defence spending in their budget – a point the Prime Minister debunked very easily.

Badenoch’s other line of attack focused on the “cruel” taxes on farmers announced in last week’s budget. To which Starmer resorted that the government’s pledged £5bn investment into farming over the next two years would form the “biggest increase, unlike the £300m which was underspent under the last government.”

The Prime Minister's response to Badenoch’s accusations of “reading from a script” drew the loudest cheers of the day, as he pointed out that the Leader of the Opposition should not be complaining about scripted answers, whilst reading from a script.

The Starmer-Badenoch dual was briefly interrupted when Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey asked the Prime Minister what steps he would take to change President Trump’s views regarding support for Ukraine as well as his support for tariffs. Here, Starmer proved to be elusive, reiterating his “pride” for the UK’s support of Ukraine, and emphasising the US and the UK’s “special” relationship, while failing to mention any actual measures he would be willing to take to pressure Trump regarding the issue at hand.

Transitioning to domestic matters, Labour party MPs dealt blows to the opposition on minimum wage issues. Neil Coyle MP asked whether the Prime Minister would pledge to “protect the minimum wage and increase it as finances allow”, to which the Prime Minister happily referenced the Shadow Business Secretary’s statement that the minimum wage was “something that legislators pass to make themselves feel good.”

While the US election result set a unique stage for Badenoch’s debut PMQs appearance, the public got a taste of what is to come. Although Badenoch is unlikely to be handed such obvious and easy attack points every week, it is clear she will not shy away from pulling her punches.