LONDON — It’s a historic day for the U.K. parliament, as newly elected Labour leader Keir Starmer goes head to head with acting Prime Minister Dominic Raab in his first Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.
Although both Starmer and Raab will be physically present in the chamber — along with several dozen stalwart MPs — the debate will the first of its kind, to be held partly virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic. The rest of Britain’s MPs will be asking their questions from home via video screens hastily installed around the Commons chamber, as Britain’s ancient democracy collides with 21st century tech.
To mark the occasion, POLITICO looked back at how previous opposition leaders tackled their first PMQs, from Margaret Thatcher’s truly tedious first question on the civil list to David Cameron’s memorable “he was the future once!” attack on Tony Blair.
None of them were walking into a full-blown global crisis quite like Keir Starmer — although Iain Duncan Smith came close with his first PMQs just a few short weeks after 9/11.
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February 12, 1975: Newly-elected leader of the opposition Margaret Thatcher swapped amicable platitudes with Harold Wilson in the first PMQs session to involve a woman. It was not exactly fire and brimstone, with the future Tory PM asking about changes to the way the government funded the civil list. Happily, things heated up in subsequent years.
November 11, 1980: At his first PMQs as Labour leader, Michael Foot quizzed Thatcher about her ongoing dispute with the Fire Brigades Union, suggesting there had been a serious breach of faith in the government’s conduct. The scene was set for a tumultuous few years of industrial disputes.
Michael Foot with his wife Jill Craigie after being elected Labour leader in London on November 10, 1980 | United News/Popperfoto via Getty Images
October 25, 1983: Fresh from Labour’s bruising landslide election defeat, new leader Neil Kinnock used his first PMQs appearance to ask about Thatcher’s so-called “star chamber” and the policies discussed within it. “If the lady is still not for turning,” he drawled, “what is the purpose in having a ‘star chamber’? Can it be nothing more than a clumsy cover-up for the divisions that exist in the Cabinet, and the indecisions that exist in the prime minister?”
October 20, 1992: Nine years on and with the Tories still in power, it was back to industrial disputes as the late Labour leader John Smith asked Prime Minister John Major to commission an independent review of planned pit closures. “If the prime minister really believes he has a strong case, what does he have to lose from an independent inquiry?” Smith asked. “What is he afraid of?”
October 18, 1994: As future Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped up for his first PMQs, his deputy John Prescott grinned and shouted “petrified!” across the chamber at John Major. Blair used the session to attack divisions in Major’s government over Europe, asserting that a “divided government is a weak government, and a weak government is no good for Britain.” It would be a theme he returned to once or twice over the subsequent years. You can watch the entire session here if you have the time — a nervous-looking Blair is on his feet at 2:27.
June 25, 1997: The first Conservative leader of the opposition in almost 20 years, William Hague asked Blair if Labour MPs had been threatened with expulsion for failing to support government policy on devolution. Hague would consistently get the better of his rival over the years that followed — for all the difference it made. Watch the clip
October 17, 2001: Ill-fated Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith asked Blair about the war in Afghanistan in his maiden PMQs, which took place just a few short weeks after the September 11 terror attacks. “Does the prime minister agree with me that having started this action, it is essential we see it through?” he asked, which on reflection was rather a prescient question. Here’s the clip.
November 12, 2003: Less than two years later, Michael Howard — Blair’s third opponent — chose the niche subject of Whitehall administration costs for his first session with the Labour prime minister. Blair shot back: “I welcome you to your new position — and want to say how delighted I am that someone written off during the last Conservative government is given the chance of rehabilitating himself under Labour.” There’s a great video here, including a certain future prime minister sitting alongside Howard.
December 7, 2005: A young and very cocky-looking David Cameron rather cleverly offered support to Blair in his first PMQs, as the Labour prime minister looked to push through education reforms opposed by his own backbenchers. “With our support … you can afford to be as bold as you want to be,” Cameron said. “That’s when you’re at your best, or so I’m told!’” He then delivered what was surely his most famous dig at his opposite number — just watch the clip. A new dawn had broken, and all that.
John Major and Tony Blair | Tim Graham/Sygma/Corbis via Getty Images
October 13, 2010: Ed Miliband made a decent start at his first PMQs, attacking David Cameron on child benefit reforms that the prime minister had previously suggested would not be required. “Before the election he went to Bolton, in an event that I gather was called ‘Cameron Direct,’” Miliband said. “And he said — ‘I’m not going to flannel you, I’m going to give it to you straight. I like child benefit … I wouldn’t change child benefit, I wouldn’t means test it, I don’t think that’s a good idea.’ I agree with the prime minister — why doesn’t he?” It was about as good as it got for Ed.
September 16, 2015: Labour’s most recent leader tried something very different in his first PMQs — asking for advice from voters on what to ask Cameron. After receiving over 40,000 suggestions, Jeremy Corbyn used questions from “Marie” … “Steven” … “Paul” … “Clare” … and “Gail” to ask about the housing crisis, cuts to tax credits and mental health services, all in one session. The full 30 minutes is available here, if you want to see what we’ll be missing in future debates under Starmer.