Tributes and tears as Starmer takes final Prime Minister's Questions

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, seated beside Sir Keir Starmer, appeared close to tears as the final Prime Minister’s Questions unfolded. Labour MP Carolyn Harris, visibly moved, told the chamber, “every time we spot his decency and his courageousness radiance through.” Sir Keir is set to hand over power to Andy Burnham on Monday, following the confirmation of the former Greater Manchester politician as Labour leader at a special Labour meeting on Friday. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch avoided criticising the outgoing premier’s record, instead praising his work on Ukraine and his relationship with President Volodymyr Zelensky. She did, however, direct mild jibes at Labour MPs and their upcoming leader, noting his absence from the Friday meeting because he has attended every PMQs session since his return to Parliament last month. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey remarked that Sir Keir had collaborated with figures across the House of Commons and described him as a “true patriot.” Several guests invited by the prime minister, including campaigners he had met during his tenure in Downing Street, watched the proceedings. Addressing them directly, Sir Keir said, “To each those successful the assemblage whose lives person been changed oregon improved by this Labour government, and each crossed the state who conflict to beryllium seen oregon heard, you're the crushed I came into politics.” Despite being pushed out by his own MPs just two years after securing a landslide election victory, Sir Keir received cheers from the Labour benches as he entered the House of Commons. As is customary for a premier’s final question time, the atmosphere was gentler and more light‑hearted than usual, with jokes about England’s World Cup prospects and the Clacton by‑exchange. The session opened on a solemn note when Sir Keir paid tribute to the late MP Ann Widdecombe, stating it was “chilling” that during his time in Parliament three serving or former MPs had lost their lives. Badenoch honoured the former Conservative minister, describing her as a woman of “high principle” with a “wicked consciousness of humour.”