Andy Burnham will face Kemi Badenoch at his first Prime Minister's Questions as leader, less than 24 hours after making his debut at the Commons despatch box.
The Prime Minister faced hours of questions on Tuesday, setting out plans to hand power back to communities across the UK and pledging to take back public control of utilities and services. He answered 125 questions in a three-hour-24-minute session, which he completed without using notes.
Thatcher legacy and 'failed economic model'
During the debate, he criticised the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, the austerity era, and vowed to end the “failed economic model” that had left parts of the country behind. In his first speech to MPs, he said he would set aside point scoring to get things done and promised “politics done differently”.
He said the country had taken a “series of wrong turns” since the 1980s, with failures compounded by Tory austerity and Brexit, which he blamed for a decade of stalled growth and stalled regeneration.
Likely questions and political context
Mr Burnham is likely to face questions on possible tax rises, defence funding, and the prospect of replacing Britain's electoral system, first past the post.
Kemi Badenoch will take on the new PM in the same week she conducted her reshuffle, which comes with her party still languishing in third place in the polls. The PM will be in a confident mood, with Labour surging in the polls since he took over.
Starmer stands down as MP
Today's PMQs comes less than 24 hours after Keir Starmer announced he was standing down as an MP. The former Prime Minister said he was ready to “pass the baton to a successor” after leaving No10 earlier this summer. He previously said he planned to remain in Parliament until the next general election, which is expected to be in 2029.
