Starmer takes bonus PMQs on Wednesday — Pmqs Today

Keir Starmer faced pmqs today after prorogation slipped from Tuesday night to lunchtime on Wednesday. The delay gave Kemi Badenoch one more chance to confront him before next week’s elections and the state opening the week after. One more PMQs it was.

Wednesday in the Commons

Today was never meant to have been this way. There was supposed to be no Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, but the late completion of the last bit of government legislation pushed prorogation back and left Starmer at the dispatch box anyway.

Step forward Kemi. She got a bonus tilt at the prime minister after the timetable changed, and both leaders were trying to land lines for their social media channels as the session opened.

Starmer and Badenoch

Starmer took no damage from the end-of-session clash. He also used the exchange to say how well the king’s visit was going in the US, keeping the focus on the questions in front of him rather than the delayed break in proceedings.

Badenoch used the extra session to press him in a Parliament that has been flatlining for both of them in the polls. The piece places that exchange against a wider backdrop of unpopular leaders, but the immediate result was simple: another PMQs session that neither side had expected when Tuesday night began.

Prorogation and next week

The original plan was to prorogue on Tuesday night, which would have ended the parliamentary session before one more confrontation. When the last legislation ran late, the Commons stayed open until lunchtime on Wednesday and Starmer had to answer again before parliament was cleared for next week’s elections and the state opening the week after.

That extra half-day matters because it left the two leaders with one more live exchange in front of MPs, and there is no second chance once prorogation begins. For Starmer, it closed the session without a setback; for Badenoch, it created a final platform to test him before the Commons shuts down.