Angela Rayner brutally mocked Kemi Badenoch today by claiming the Conservative leader鈥檚 performance in the Commons was much better when she did not actually turn up.
The deputy PM was standing in for Keir Starmer during this week鈥檚 prime minister鈥檚 questions as he is attending a Nato summit in the Netherlands.
As Badenoch is yet to actually choose a second-in-command, she has given the honour of standing in for her at PMQs to different Tory frontbenchers.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride stood in for her this week, after shadow home secretary Chris Philp did the job last week.
And, according to Rayner, they have been vast improvements on the Tory leader herself 鈥 even though Badenoch has previously insisted she is 鈥済etting better every week鈥.
Her retort came after Conservative MP Andrew Snowden said: 鈥淕iven the Right Honourable Lady appears to be enjoying spending yet another week practising to be prime minster, maybe she can give her view on who she would get rid of in the up and coming reshuffle?鈥
He began to list the issues with all the current government, claiming the chancellor 鈥渒illed economic growth鈥, the work and pensions secretary 鈥渂otched鈥 the welfare bill, the environment secretary 鈥渢ried to destroy鈥 British family farms while the foreign secretary supposedly gave 鈥渁way British sovereign territory and paying billions to rent it back鈥.
Growing increasingly angry, Snowden pointed towards Rayner and said: 鈥淥r given the prime minister is now polling as having the most unpopular first year in modern political history, would she do herself and the country a favour and tell him to show himself the door?鈥
The deputy prime minister calmly replied: 鈥淢r Speaker, maybe he wants a go next week because it鈥檚 been quite the carousel and the leader of the opposition said she was going to get better week-on-week.
鈥淪he already has in the last two weeks by not turning up!鈥
That sparked widespread laughter in the Commons.
With a nod towards Robert Jenrick鈥檚 less-than-subtle Tory leadership ambitions, Rayner added: 鈥淢r Speaker, I鈥檓 just wondering when they鈥檙e going to give the shadow justice secretary a go.鈥