The prime minister was dealt a number of huge blows.
Keir Starmer was slammed by Kemi Badenoch (Image: Getty)
Kemi Badenoch ripped into Prime Minister Keir Starmer as she claimed “he is in office but not in power”. GB News paused its coverage and cut to the Conservative leader speaking in the House of Commons, where she launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir as he continues facing the biggest leadership crisis of his premiership.
Following Labour’s devastating defeat in the local elections, nearly 100 MPs have called on Sir Keir to resign. Calling out the prime minister, Badenoch said: “This is a highly unusual moment. The prime minister is in office but not in power. Everyone is trying to pretend it’s alright. It’s not alright. In the past 24 hours, nearly 100 Labour MPs have called for the prime minister to resign. Four ministers have quit.”
Badenoch claimed this proves Sir Keir has lost his authority and described Labour as a government that has already “run out of ideas” after less than two years in office.
She continued: “Everything that has gone wrong in Labour’s first two years comes back to one problem – they came into office with no plan. They did not understand the difference between winning an election and governing a country.
“It was very easy to make promises in opposition, promises to freeze council tax, promises to take 300 pounds off energy bills, promises to the WASPI women, but at no point did they bother to think how they would deliver any of it.
“They didn’t spend their time in opposition thinking deeply about the country’s problems, they assumed that governing in the 2020s would be like governing in the 1990s, but it isn’t.”
She went on to slam Labour for their “arrogance”, claiming they can’t handle the “responsibility and tough decisions” of being in government.
Badenoch told the Commons: “They want to lead our country, they can’t even lead a coup. It is so obvious that they cannot handle being in government. They hate the responsibility, they hate having to take tough decisions.”
The Tory leader later criticised the 24 U-turns by the Labour government, claiming Sir Keir has “failed on every count” of leadership.
“Leadership is about having a vision for this country, it’s about having the courage to take difficult decisions, persuading your party that those difficult decisions will pay off in time, and taking responsibility for your mistakes. He has failed on every count,” she said.