Boris Johnson today bowed out of his final PMQs with fresh attacks on Sir Keir Starmer and a swipe at his possible successor Rishi Sunak, as he told MPs: ‘Hasta la vista, baby’.
The outgoing Prime Minister was afforded a standing ovation by Tory MPs – although not from the Labour benches or from his predecessor Theresa May – at the end of this afternoon’s session.
It came less than two weeks after he was forced to announce his resignation following a revolt against his leadership from within his Conservative ranks.
In his departing words, Mr Johnson issued a dig at his ex-Chancellor – with Mr Sunak having been among the torrent of ministers who recently quit the PM’s administration – and gave a warning to those Tory MPs who rebelled against him.
In advice to whoever replaces him, the PM said: ‘Focus on the road ahead, but always remember to check the rear view mirror and remember above all it’s not Twitter that counts – it’s the people that sent us here.’
Mr Johnson also urged the next Tory leader to ‘stay close to the Americans, stick up for the Ukrainians, stick up for freedom and democracy everywhere’.
‘Cut taxes and deregulate wherever you can to make this the greatest place to live and invest, which it is,’ he added.
‘I love the Treasury but remember that if we’d always listened to the Treasury we wouldn’t have built the M25 or the Channel Tunnel.’
Mr Johnson dropped a hint he could attempt a political comeback, telling MPs his premiership had been ‘mission largely accomplished, for now’.
His very final words – in which he told MPs ‘hasta la vista, baby’ – were an apparent reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s catchphrase from the film Terminator, which is also famous for the line ‘I’ll be back’.
With MPs heading away from Westminster for their summer break from tomorrow, today’s PMQs was the last before Boris Johnson is replaced as Tory leader
Sir Keir Starmer was branded ‘a great pointless human bollard’ by the PM in their final clashes at PMQs today
The departing Mr Johnson was given a standing ovation by Tory MPs – but not from the Labour benches
Mr Johnson told the Commons that his last three years as PM had been ‘the greatest privilege of my life’ as he listed his achievements in office, such as Brexit and British support for Ukraine against Russia’s brutal invasion.
‘It’s true that I helped to get the biggest Tory majority for 40 years and a huge realignment in UK politics,’ the PM said.
‘We transformed our democracy and restored our national independence.
‘I’ve helped to get this country through a pandemic and help save another country from barbarism, and frankly that’s enough to be going on with.’
Asked later if Mr Johnson was already planning a political comeback – given his concluding remarks at PMQs – the PM’s press secretary said: ‘That was his way of saying farewell to his colleagues.’
Downing Street also said Mr Johnson’s attack on the Treasury – which was widely viewed as a dig at Mr Sunak – was the PM making a ‘broader point’ about ‘investment in big infrastructure projects’.
One of Mr Johnson’s most loyal Cabinet ministers, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, tore into Labour after PMQs for failing to join in the standing ovation for Mr Johnson at the end of today’s session.
She noted how Tory MPs had stood and applauded ex-Labour PM Sir Tony Blair at his final PMQs in 2007.
‘Today the behaviour of Labour MPs shows how far Labour has fallen,’ she said, as she branded Sir Keir’s party ‘graceless’.
Ms Dorries added on Twitter: ‘The doorkeeper had to physically restrain one Labour MP at the back of the Speaker’s chair who was yelling (along with others) profanities as PM left the chamber.
‘They are truly unfit to ever be let near No10.’
Another of Mr Johnson’s most loyal MPs, education minister Andrea Jenkyns, appeared to be in tears at the end of PMQs.
Asked about Labour not joining in the standing ovation for Mr Johnson, a spokesman for Sir Keir said that whether to applaud or not was a ‘decision for individual MPs’.
Mrs May, who was ousted from Downing Street as part of efforts by Mr Johnson in 2019, stood at the end of PMQs but did not join in the applause for her successor.
Nadine Dorries, one of Mr Johnson’s most loyal Cabinet ministers, tore into Labour for not joining in the standing ovation for the departing PM
Earlier, in their last exchanges at PMQs, Mr Johnson branded Sir Keir a ‘great pointless human bollard’ as he aimed a series of final digs across the despatch box.
Mr Johnson also told Sir Keir that whoever succeeds him as Tory leader – whether Mr Sunak, Liz Truss or Penny Mordaunt – would ‘wipe the floor’ with the Labour leader like ‘some household detergent’.
Sir Keir accused the PM of ‘delusion’ about the cost-of-living crisis – with inflation today revealed to have hit a fresh 40-year high.
In a nod to the scandal over Mr Johnson’s refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, the Labour leader jibed the PM had ‘come down from his gold wallpapered bunker for one last time to tell us that everything’s fine’.
He also raised recent criticism of the Government’s record by the trio of Tory leadership candidates in TV debates, including Ms Mordaunt’s claim that public services are ‘in a desperate state’.
‘Has the PM told her who’s been running our public services for the last 12 years?,’ Sir Keir asked.
But Mr Johnson hit back as he hailed his £39billion funding boost for the NHS and social care to tackle Covid backlogs, which Labour opposed by voting against the hike in National Insurance contributions.
The PM told Sir Keir: ‘Every time something needs to be done, they try to oppose it, he’s a great pointless human bollard, that’s what he is.’
The Labour leader noted how a Tory leadership debate on Sky News scheduled for last night had been cancelled, amid claims Conservative Party bosses were increasingly concerned about blue-on-blue attacks being staged in public.
Sir Keir said: ‘I think the truth is this – they organised the TV debates because they thought it would be a great chance for the public to hear from the candidates first hand.
‘Then disaster struck because the public actually heard from the candidates first hand.’
Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, mocked Mr Johnson for driving support for Scottish independence to ‘new heights’ during his spell as PM.
But Mr Johnson hit back at the SNP’s record in Scotland, as he blasted the Scottish Government’s record on schools, taxes and drugs deaths.
The PM also used his final PMQs to warn voters of a ‘crackpot coalition’ between Labour, the Liberal Democrats and SNP after the next general election.
At the beginning of PMQs, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle paid tribute to the departing Mr Johnson.
He said: ‘It’s only fitting to note this is likely to be the final time he addresses the House as Prime Minister. I would like to wish him and his family all the best for the future.
‘We have been through many dark times within this House and none more so than through the pandemic, and always will be remembered for what this House did and the way you’ve conducted those duties during those dark times.’
Theresa May’s final PMQs lasted more than an hour. At the end, she was applauded by Tory MPs as she left the Commons
Like Mrs May, her predecessor David Cameron was also given a standing ovation by MPs at the end of his final PMQs
Before departing PMQs for the final time, Sir Tony Blair told the House of Commons: ‘I wish everyone, friend or foe, well and that is that, the end.’
With MPs heading away from Westminster for their summer break from tomorrow, today’s PMQs was the last before Mr Johnson is replaced as Tory leader.
From 1pm, Tory MPs were set to vote in the final round of the contest to replace Mr Johnson, with one of Mr Sunak, Ms Truss and Ms Mordaunt due to be knocked out the race this afternoon.
A final pairing will then be put to the Conservative Party’s wider membership with the results of grassroots vote to be announced on 5th September.
Mr Johnson will formally hand over as PM to the new Tory leader on 6th September.
Barring any emergency events over the summer, today was Mr Johnson’s last scheduled appearance in the Commons as PM.
As a former journalist and author of a number of books, the PM was likely to have spent a while crafting his final line to MPs today.
At his own final PMQs in 2016, David Cameron quoted a line from his first PMQs appearance – when he faced Tony Blair as leader of the opposition – telling MPs: ‘I was the future once.’
Nine years earlier, Sir Tony himself told the Commons: ‘I wish everyone, friend or foe, well and that is that, the end.’
And, in 2019 before she handed over to Mr Johnson, Theresa May – who unlike Sir Tony and Mr Cameron has remained in the Commons – told MPs: ‘That duty to serve my constituents will remain my greatest motivation.’