Keir Starmer was told his MPs want a ‘new leader’ for Christmas today as he took the last PMQs before the festive break.
Kemi Badenoch goaded Sir Keir over the mounting crisis engulfing Labour as they clashed in the Commons.
The Tory leader pointed to rising infighting in the premier’s own ranks, accusing him of blaming everyone else for his failure and branding the Cabinet ‘turkeys’.
‘All his MPs want for Christmas is a new leader,’ she jibed to laughter in the chamber.
The exchanges came as a stark poll showed Labour faces being put to the sword in Wales by Plaid Cymru and Reform.
Local elections in May look set to see the party evicted from the First Minister post for the first time since devolution.
Labour’s support appears to have dwindled even further since the last YouGov research in September.
Mrs Badenoch mocked the PM for blaming faulty ‘levers’ of government for Labour’s struggles, and joked that he doesn’t have the ‘baubles’ to stand up to the unions.
Is Labour losing touch with voters in Wales, or is this just a bump before the next election?
Go to comments‘The Prime Minister promised economic growth, but the only thing that’s grown is his list of broken promises,’ she said.
‘He promised to reduce unemployment, but yesterday unemployment hit its highest level since the pandemic.
‘It has gone up every single month since he came into office. Why is that?’
Sir Keir replied: ‘The facts are these: 350,000 more people in work this year. We’ve got the lowest inactivity rate for five years.’
The PM said the shadow cabinet under Mrs Badenoch was full of ‘non entities’.
But the Conservative Party leader replied that the Cabinet was full of ‘a bunch of turkeys (that) could fit right in at a Bernard Matthews factory’.
Mrs Badenoch said she did not know ‘what planet the Prime Minister is living on’ as he defended the Government’s employment record.
‘He is one to talk, last week his MPs were calling him a caretaker prime minister – after what he’s done to the economy, they should be calling him the undertaker prime minister.’
She continued: ‘Unemployment has gone up every single month under him. Youth unemployment, record levels, graduate recruitment, lowest ever, he promised that he wouldn’t increase taxes on working people, but he has.
‘Last year he increased national insurance. Last month he froze income tax thresholds. So will the Prime Minister finally be honest and admit he broke his promise on tax?’
In another awkward moment for Sir Keir, the SNP’s Stephen Flynn sparked raucous laughter by asking how he intended to spend his ‘last’ Christmas in No10.
The new YouGov survey found Plaid on track to emerge victorious in Wales with 33 per cent of voting intention, while Nigel Farage’s insurgents were not far behind on 30 per cent.
The dismal 10 per cent for Labour would be easily its worst performance in Wales since the Senned system was introduced 26 years ago.
It would be level-pegging with the Tories, and a single point ahead of the Greens.
In 2021 Labour won 30 of the 60 seats and averaged around a 37 per cent vote share.
The assembly is being expanded in May to have 96 members instead of 60, with the voting system and constituencies also changing.
Plaid are projected to have 39 seats, Reform 34 and Labour just 10. The Conservatives are seen as having six, the Greens four and the Lib Dems three.
A Plaid Cymru spokesman said: ‘Coming so soon after our Caerphilly by-election win, this poll shows the momentum is firmly with Plaid Cymru and that next year’s election is shaping up to be a straight choice for Wales’ future.
‘After years in power, Labour have given up on Wales. People are tired of broken promises and being taken for granted and yearning for something new: fairness, ambition, and a government that finally puts Wales first.
‘At the next election, the people of Wales face two choices of two futures. One is a party rooted in Wales, focused on improving our NHS, public services, and helping families with the cost of living. The other is a billionaire-backed party that would privatise our NHS and take Wales backwards.
‘This is a two-horse race, and only Plaid Cymru brings a positive vision, can stop Reform and deliver the new leadership Wales deserves.’
A Reform UK Wales spokesman said: ‘It’s clear to everybody here in Wales that the next Senedd election will be a two-horse race between Reform and Plaid.
‘With Plaid, Wales will get more of the same extreme policies that we’ve had from Plaid and Labour working in tandem in Cardiff Bay. Meanwhile, Reform will be fighting to restore common sense to Welsh politics, and to deliver real change for our communities here in Wales.’
