Close your eyes in today’s Liaison Committee hearing and you might have thought Rishi Sunak was still prime minister. Keir Starmer clearly shares his predecessor’s enthusiasm for this end-of-term parliamentary ritual. His smile was broad and his hands flurried as he relished the chance to show off his knowledge in front of two dozen select committee chairs.
Gone are the days of the Boris Johnson era when such exchanges were characterised by mutual loathing. Such was Labour’s performance in July’s general election that the party now boasts two thirds of the select committee chairs. The likes of Meg Hillier and Liam Byrne were robust, but hardly intimidating, as Starmer handled with ease their respective questions on expenditure and business. Others were even more deferential: Tan Dhesi, the defence chairman, began his question by thanking the Prime Minister ‘for your service to this nation.’
His ‘je ne regrette rien’ will become increasingly implausible
The fact that Starmer has only been PM for five months helped him in this session too.
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