This was another session of prime minister’s questions that Kemi Badenoch should have won — and won by some distance. The announcement yesterday that the government will not be compensating Waspi women affected by pension changes created a clear opportunity for the Conservative leader to go after Keir Starmer on the grounds of honesty, transparency and public trust.
But across six misfiring questions at the despatch box this afternoon, Badenoch squandered her opportunity.
The aforementioned criticisms have been the throughline of everything the Conservative Party has said about Starmer since he entered office — from economic policy to standards in public life. Of course, on fiscal matters, the prime minister contends that Labour’s policy has needed to adapt to the reality of a £22 billion fiscal “black hole” he inherited from the Conservatives. But Badenoch has repeatedly dismissed the “black hole” excuse as political bunkum, in a bid to hold Starmer to account for some of the budget’s more unexpected revenue-raising measures.
A similar attack line this afternoon, focused on Labour’s Waspi woes, would have pushed Badenoch into the news bulletins — an objective her scattergun PMQs style has so far failed to realise.
But what is most striking about Badenoch’s PMQs performances is no longer the manifest misfires — it is her dogged determination not to reflect on them, study them and duly adjust her approach. By stubbornly sticking to her broken strategy, Badenoch is squandering opportunity after opportunity to make political ground at the expense of Starmer’s government, which continues to look exposed.
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With her first question, the Conservative leader hinted that her style was evolving in the right direction. She accused Starmer and his cabinet of “playing politics with the Waspi women” and quoted deputy prime minister Angela Rayner as having previously accused the Conservatives of “stealing their pensions”.
“Another broken promise. Now they admit we were right all along”, Badenoch declared.
At this point, the Conservative leader should have smugly returned to her position on the opposition frontbench — to readily receive the roaring adulation of Tory MPs behind her. In isolation, Starmer would have struggled with the pointed attack.
But then came the infamous Badenoch pivot. Explicitly and ponderously setting out her intention to MPs, the Conservative leader U-turned on her line of inquiry. “But let’s ask about another group of pensioners”, Badenoch asserted, resetting her questioning. Tory MPs sat in telling silence.
Then, after some minor murmuring from the Labour benches, Badenoch repeated herself: “Let’s ask about another group of pensioners whose trust was broken”.
“Since the chancellor cut winter fuel payments, how many extra people have applied for pension credit?”, she asked.
It isn’t the first time Badenoch has broached two topics in her first PMQ. Last week, the Conservative leader referred to Louise Haigh’s resignation and legal immigration. The week before that, Badenoch began on illegal immigration before pivoting to Starmer’s former transport secretary.
The approach, one imagines, is intended to offset Starmer at the beginning of the session as his thumb peruses his bulging binder of potential PMQs topics. But today, as with recent weeks, Starmer dealt with Badenoch’s points in turn — not necessarily nimbly, but for the most part effectively.
By casting such a wide net and referencing multiple issues in her questions, Badenoch is providing Starmer with ample opportunities to strike back. For instance, rather than address Badenoch’s Waspi point this afternoon, Starmer seized on comments made by shadow chancellor Mel Stride, who recently referred to the pensions triple lock as “unsustainable”. The remark fits broadly within the topic of “pensioners”, and so Starmer was well within his right to pursue this line of attack.
Badenoch, in short, would be well-advised to keep her questions focused to prevent Starmer from wandering towards more comfortable territory.
The Tory chief’s front-loaded PMQs style also gives too much away too soon. In her first question, the Conservative leader planned to set up the narrative that this is an uncaring government whose policies will punish vulnerable people facing hardship this winter. Starmer was therefore able to get ahead of Badenoch’s line of attack — neutralising the Conservative leader’s bid to befuddle him with her meandering style.
And the Conservative leader’s line of questioning did not become more incisive as the session progressed. After asking the prime minister about winter fuel payments on a further two occasions, Badenoch called on Starmer to shield hospices from the impact of the increase to employer national insurance contributions.
“We will set out the funding arrangements for hospices in the new year”, Starmer responded.
Badenoch began her final question, predictably, on a new footing. Turning to Starmer’s planned Brexit “reset” with the European Union, Badenoch said: “Now we learn he is about to give away our hard-won Brexit freedoms.
“The truth is they are punching the British people in the face… and he will pretend that this is about the past. But we all know these are his choices, bad choices. If he is looking for a New Year’s resolution, why doesn’t he start with telling the truth?”
Starmer answered Badenoch’s challenge: “I will do it now. A £22bn black hole left by them, record numbers on the waiting lists… they should hang their heads in shame.”
The Conservative leader has questioned Starmer across several sessions now — but it is still not clear what gains she has made, either in terms of introducing herself to the public or weakening Labour’s position. Indeed, Badenoch has still failed to meaningfully fluster Starmer — that most basic measure of a new leader’s PMQs ability.
According to new YouGov polling, 53 per cent of Britons say Badenoch does not look like a prime minister in waiting, with just 13 per cent thinking she does. YouGov’s first measurement for Keir Starmer on this point, back in 2020, saw the public split by 32 per cent to 33 per cent “does” to “does not”. In this sense, Badenoch is starting from a very poor position indeed.
Meanwhile, 68 per cent of voters, including 49 per cent of 2024 Conservative voters, think the Conservatives are not ready for government.
Of course, the public will not be judging Badenoch solely on her PMQs performances. But the despatch box on a Wednesday is an opportunity — especially for a new leader — to propound a specific message and leap onto the evening news bulletins. In this sense, in her first three months as Tory leader, Badenoch has failed beyond any reasonable expectation.
After all, it was revealing that Starmer looked far more uncomfortable when facing questions, later in the session, from his own backbenchers and other opposition MPs. Labour MP Diane Abbott, the mother of the House, said Starmer had “let down” Waspi women. The SNP’s Dave Doogan called the PM a “one-trick phoney prime minister”.
Already, a narrative is crystallising that Badenoch just is not very good at this. And you can see why.
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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