Rayner Roasts Badenoch With Brutal PMQs Dig About No-Shows

Angela Rayner delivered a stinging blow to Kemi Badenoch today, suggesting the Tory leader puts in her best performances when she doesn’t actually show up to PMQs. The deputy PM was holding the fort for Keir Starmer while he’s at the NATO summit, but couldn’t resist poking fun at Badenoch’s rotating stand-ins.

With Badenoch yet to appoint a proper deputy, different shadow cabinet members have been taking turns facing Rayner each week. After Chris Philp’s turn last week, this time it was Mel Stride’s go – and according to Rayner, both were major upgrades on the absent leader herself.

The brutal putdown came after Tory MP Andrew Snowden tried rattling Rayner with a laundry list of government failures, from the chancellor “killing economic growth” to the foreign secretary supposedly giving away British territory. His grand finale? Suggesting Starmer should “show himself the door” given his dismal polling, reported Huffington Post.

Rayner didn’t miss a beat. “Maybe he wants a go next week,” she fired back, “because it’s been quite the carousel and the leader of the opposition said she was going to get better week-on-week.” Then the killer blow: “She already has in the last two weeks by not turning up!”

The Commons erupted in laughter as the dig landed perfectly. Not done yet, Rayner cheekily referenced Robert Jenrick’s leadership ambitions by wondering aloud when they’d let the shadow justice secretary have a turn.

It’s the latest chapter in Badenoch’s rocky start at PMQs, where she’s faced criticism for her performances. Her claim to be “getting better every week” looks increasingly shaky when her own MPs seem to prefer sending substitutes. For Rayner, it was another chance to shine in Starmer’s absence – and another reminder of why she’s Labour’s secret weapon in the Commons.

With the Tories still struggling to settle on their PMQs approach and Starmer away more often for international summits, these sparring sessions are becoming must-watch political theatre. One thing’s clear – when it comes to quick wit and Commons banter, Rayner’s in a league of her own.

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