Fresh from his ruthless suspension of seven Labour MPs for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, Sir Keir Starmer’s big mandate energy was on display at his first PMQs as Prime Minister.
For the first 15 minutes, there was unity bordering on reverence from all sides of the Commons chamber.
After such a divisive and personalised election campaign, this felt a little strange. But Rishi Sunak’s choice of topic for all six of his questions – seeking reassurance that the Labour government will maintain continuity on the UK’s steadfast support for Ukraine – meant there was little room for party political attack.
The new leader of the opposition even opened with a line about his election defeat that was so self-deprecating it drew cries of “aw” from his own benches – although they may not be as sympathetic in private.
Wishing Team GB luck in the Olympics, Mr Sunak added that he was perhaps “not the first person they want to hear advice from on how to win”.
Mr Sunak, who during the election campaign had claimed Sir Keir’s premiership would make Britain less safe, stripped his first PMQs as leader of the opposition bare of any party politics.
His deputy, Oliver Dowden – a veteran of PMQs war-gaming – looked unsettled that the Tory leader was not going on the attack.
Yet given the seriousness of the ongoing instability in Europe, and following the new head of the army General Sir Roly Walker’s warning that Britain could be embroiled in a Third World War before the end of the decade, it felt right that Mr Sunak did not turn this session into a slanging match.
The former prime minister’s last question was troubling: telling Sir Keir he knew that it was often necessary to take military decisions without consulting parliament first, in the interests of national security, and use his prime ministerial prerogative to do so.
Sir Keir replied that “our security is the first duty of government”.
There was a particularly moving moment when the Prime Minister told Kim Leadbeater that he was sure her sister, the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, would have played a “big part” in the new government. There are likely many in Westminster who think she would have been in the Cabinet, in fact.
It was not until 12.15pm that the Prime Minister broke the cross-party consensual atmosphere, in response to a question about social care from Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.
Sir Keir rejected the suggestion of a cross-party committee on social care, but agreed that the sector was “in crisis”. In fact, he added: “We have a more severe crisis than we thought as we go through the books of the last 14 years… There is a crisis and a failure absolutely everywhere after 14 years of failure.”
He said more than once that there was a reason that the electorate rejected the Tories “so profoundly”, to which Mr Sunak, seated, could only offer a rueful smile.
After the mini-rebellion by a handful of Labour MPs on Tuesday night, there were few signs of dissent from the government benches.
Sir Keir faced difficult questions on planning reform, VAT on private schools and child poverty, but they all came from opposition MPs.
The only glimmer of unhappiness from a Labour MP was when Nadia Whittome asked the Prime Minister about puberty blockers for trans children. When Sir Keir said that, while he was leading a “serious government and we will approach that question with care not inflammatory divisive language” the Cass Review had found there was not enough evidence on the long-term impact of puberty blockers, Ms Whittome shook head.
In acting so ruthlessly against the seven who rebelled over benefits, Sir Keir was clearly sending a message that parliamentary dissent will not be tolerated.
It is perhaps not surprising that, with a working majority of 181, Sir Keir can exert such power over a 30-minute session of PMQs.
But with so many difficulties piling up for the government and with a Tory opposition unlikely to offer unity every Wednesday, this is unlikely to last.