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David Cameron delivers parting shots at Labour in final PMQs David Cameron delivers parting shots at Jeremy Corbyn in final PMQs
(35 minutes later)
David Cameron has used his final prime minister’s questions to mock Labour for its lack of female leaders, telling Jeremy Corbyn that when Theresa May takes over from him “it’s going to be two-nil”. David Cameron used his final prime minister’s questions to praise his fellow MPs and roundly mock Jeremy Corbyn, suggesting his embattled opposite number was so ineffective a voter had urged him to do his best to keep the Labour leader in his job.
While mainly receiving tributes from colleagues, and even Corbyn, on his final appearance in the Commons as prime minister, Cameron found time to make fun of Labour for the slow pace of its leadership battle. In a session that veered from derision to sentimentality to joking – at one point Cameron held up a photograph of himself with Larry the Downing Street cat, saying it proved they were close – the prime minister received numerous tributes from MPs, but also hit out repeatedly at Corbyn and Labour.
“We got on with it,” Cameron said to cheers from his MPs. “They haven’t even decided what the rules are.” Cameron added: “If they ever got into power it would take them about a year to decide who would sit where.” Related: PMQs is a bear pit – but Cameron just about managed to tame it | Michael White
Earlier he responded to a question from Corbyn that referenced May by saying: “When it comes to women I am pleased to say that pretty soon it’s going to be two-nil, and not a pink bus in sight.” Cameron, making his last appearance in the Commons as PM before he makes way for Theresa May later on Wednesday, ended by wishing his colleagues in government and parliament the best, saying politics was about public service.
“That is what it is all about,” he said. “Nothing is really impossible if you put your mind to it.” He added, referring to his scathing dismissal of Tony Blair: “After all, as I once said, I was the future once.”
PM: You can achieve a lot of things in politics – that’s what it’s all about. Nothing is really impossible if you put your mind to it. #PMQs
Earlier, mimicking Corbyn’s practice of reading out emails from concerned voters, Cameron, produced one he said he had been sent shortly after Corbyn took over the Labour leadership last September. This, Cameron said to laughter from his MPs, urged him to be polite to Corbyn, as his deputy, Tom Watson, was “much more of a threat” politically.
The Labour leader, who on Tuesday night won a vote among his party’s national executive to be on the ballot in the upcoming leadership election, responded with a smile, saying: “Democracy is an exciting and splendid thing, and I’m enjoying every moment of it.”
Related: David Cameron receives Commons standing ovation after final PMQs - Politics live
Cameron also made fun of Labour for its lack of female leaders. “When it comes to women I am pleased to say that pretty soon it’s going to be 2-0, and not a pink bus in sight.”
He mocked the tortuousness of the opposition’s leadership battle, comparing it unfavourably with the swift coronation of May, after her final challenger, Andrea Leadsom, dropped out on Monday.
“We got on with it,” Cameron said to cheers. “They haven’t even decided what the rules are.” Cameron added: “If they ever got into power it would take them about a year to decide who would sit where.”
Cameron began the session with a joke, saying he had had meetings with colleagues in the morning, adding that “the calendar for the rest of the day is remarkably light”.Cameron began the session with a joke, saying he had had meetings with colleagues in the morning, adding that “the calendar for the rest of the day is remarkably light”.
Cameron’s farewell as prime minister comes just under three weeks after he announced his resignation in the wake of the referendum vote for Britain to leave the EU. The first question was also light, with the UUP MP Danny Kinahan noting some vacancies Cameron could consider. “There’s the England football team, there’s Top Gear, and across the pond there’s a role that needs filling,” he said. “I think I’ll pass,” Cameron replied.
He had expected to remain in office until September as the Conservative party held an election for his successor, but the decision on Monday by Andrea Leadsom to withdraw from the race left May unchallenged. She will become prime minister and begin appointing her own cabinet later on Wednesday. Related: Cameron v Corbyn final PMQs verdict: 'I was the future once'
Amid the usual broad run of questions, taking in everything from the Kurds in Iraq to Brexit and the economy, Cameron, watched by his wife, Samantha, and the couple’s children in the pubic gallery of the Commons, received many tributes.
Corbyn asked a series of questions about homelessness, but, even after the mockery, he was generous in his sendoff, wishing Cameron and his family the best for the future.
Cameron’s final Commons appearance as prime minister comes just under three weeks after he announced his resignation in the wake of the referendum vote for Britain to leave the EU.
He had expected to remain in office until September as the Conservative party held an election for his successor, but the decision on Monday by Leadsom to withdraw from the race left May unchallenged. She will become prime minister and begin appointing her own cabinet later on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Cameron chaired his final cabinet meeting, where he enjoyed tributes from colleagues. Later that day a removal van arrived in Downing Street to begin the process of moving the family’s possessions to a new London home so May can move in.On Tuesday, Cameron chaired his final cabinet meeting, where he enjoyed tributes from colleagues. Later that day a removal van arrived in Downing Street to begin the process of moving the family’s possessions to a new London home so May can move in.