Keir Starmer tells MPs "this is the end of my political journey" as he is applauded out of his final PMQs as PM
He and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch exchange jokes about their previous clashes, ahead of Starmer stepping down as Labour leader and handing power to Andy Burnham
Badenoch asks Starmer if he agrees Burnham should come to the Commons and answer questions instead of "scurrying away for the summer" - the PM says he's sure Badenoch will question Burnham in the same way she has grilled him
He says he will give his "wholehearted support" to his successor - Badenoch says a new PM is not a silver bullet
Starmer and Badenoch also lead tributes to Ann Widdecombe, after she was killed last week
The PM says "we must do more to defend our democracy", while Badenoch describes Widdecombe as a "woman of high principle" with a "wicked sense of humour"
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey thanks Starmer for his "public service", describing him as a "true patriot"
Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the Commons
In the final moments of Keir Starmer’s time at the dispatch box, some of his political team could be seen wiping away a tear.
For all of politics’ necessary competitiveness and blunt contentions, today was a day where emotion and human feeling rose to the surface - and where a cross party respect for public service was acknowledged.
Image source, House of CommonsAfter his final "goodbye", Starmer leaves PMQs for the last time as prime minister.
He receives a standing ovation, claps and cheers from the Labour benches, and from a few members of other parties around the chamber, as he makes his way past his cabinet.
He shakes hands with Speaker Lindsay Hoyle - they share a few brief words before leaving the Commons.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared to be emotional and tearful as Keir Starmer delivered his final answer from the dispatch box.
Image source, House of CommonsKeir Starmer now gives his final answer at Prime Minister's Questions in response to his friend, the Labour MP Carolyn Harris.
Holding back tears, she praises Starmer for his leadership. "Every day we see his decency and his courage shine through," she says and asks the house to pay tribute to the PM and his family.
Starmer thanks her for her question, support and friendship particularly towards his wife and children.
"This will be my last answer from this dispatch box," he says.
Starmer adds: "Every prime minister knows when they take up the torch that the day will come when they have to pass it on.
"That day has come for me. This is the end of my political journey.
"In two years in government, I leave the country in better shape than I found it. I am proud of everything that we have achieved."
Lib Dem MP Will Forster asks the PM if his last act should be to declare a bank holiday if England wins the World Cup.
Starmer replies that he doesn't want to jinx the result, and as for the question of the bank holiday, Forster should ask him again on Sunday.
For context: If England make it to the final against Spain on Sunday, Starmer is widely expected to be there to cheer them on in New York.
Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew says the PM "appears to have been brought down by an inability to articulate a plan for government".
Mayhew then says "it must be tough" to be replaced by someone "who refuses to say whether he's even got a plan", referring to Andy Burnham.
He asks whether Starmer agrees that the House will "be missing him" in a few months time.
Starmer cites several actions the government has taken, including, he says, stabilising the economy and "stronger public services".
"That's not just a plan, it's a plan being delivered," Starmer says.
Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the House of Commons
Danny Kruger - a Tory MP who defected to Reform UK - takes Starmer’s retort to his question about the Clacton by-election on the chin.
The PM says he knows Reform believes in recycling politicians, which is met with a roar of approval from all sides except Reform.
Reform UK's Danny Kruger asks Starmer who he supports in the Clacton by-election, given Labour has not put a candidate forward.
"Politics is not a joke," Kruger says, adding that every major party has supported Count BinFace, a "comedian with a dustbin on his head", to stand against Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Starmer replies that he "knows Reform believe in recycling politicians" - to jeers from across the chamber.
"I wonder if he really thought spending summer arguing with a bin was what he had in mind when he defected to the benches up there," Starmer adds.
For context: Danny Kruger was previously a Conservative MP and switched allegiance to Reform UK in September 2025 - the first sitting Conservative MP to do so.
Labour MP Lloyd Hatton pays tribute to the PM's "steadfast leadership in the face of two major conflicts".
He asks if he agrees that the UK should use every diplomatic tool it has to crack down on "hostile states" such as Russia and Iran.
Starmer says he is proud to have set up the Coalition of the Willing, adding that he is "honoured" the Ukrainian ambassador is in the gallery today.
"Let me say to him and all Ukrainians we are united in this House against Russian aggression; that work began before I was prime minister, it will continue afterwards," he says.
Starmer adds that Ukraine's security "is our security, and this house is proud to stand with you".
For context: The Coalition of the Willing is the group of countries Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron helped set up to aid Ukraine in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of 2022.
Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the House of Commons
Jeremy Corbyn is trying to catch the speaker’s eye. Will Starmer’s predecessor as Labour leader be allowed to have his say?
Labour MP Lola McEvoy mentions a young constituent called Olivia who will be safer because of Starmer's actions on social media.
Since social media policy has been a big feature of his time in office, could the PM share any viral moments that cut through in the Starmer household, she asks.
He says he once got into trouble at a primary school when an eight-year-old encouraged him to “join in with the whole six-seven thing and the whole class joined in and it went viral".
He gives a demonstration to the Commons.
The head teacher then told him off, a laughing Starmer recalls.
“I was totally pathetic - I’d simply said 'I didn’t start it',” Starmer says of his reply to the headteacher, to laughter in the chamber.
Watch: Keir Starmer does '6-7' hands meme with Peterborough school children
Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the Commons
Exchanges like today’s stick in the memory because they are atypical of the weekly verbal jousting we associate with Prime Minister’s Questions.
I recall Tony Blair’s final outing in this chamber nearly 20 years ago, and there have been plenty since.
The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch struck a conciliatory and human tone, as did Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Image source, House of CommonsReform UK MP Richard Tice says he has "good news" for the PM.
Tice says "76% of England football matches have been won" during Starmer's tenure, which he says "is the greatest, most successful record of any prime minister in history".
He asks Starmer if he will commit to "ensure his greatest legacy" is to make sure "finally that football is coming home".
Starmer says he is "a massive football fan" and says it is "only under Labour governments" that England win the World Cup, to cheers from the benches.
Brian Wheeler
Reporting from the Commons
Image source, House of CommonsThere are stony faces on the Reform bench as Ed Davey makes a crack about “joke candidates” in the Clacton by-election.
These Count Binface/Farage jokes are becoming a little formulaic now - but it won’t stop parties boycotting the contest from making them.
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, echoes the prime minister's condolences following the death of Ann Widdecombe, saying she "devoted her life to public service" and that her death is "horrifying".
He then wishes England luck against Argentina this evening, joking that it is Starmer's last job as prime minister to "make sure we win the World Cup".
On the Clacton by-election, Davey says he "cannot back joke figures with ridiculous polices", adding: "Which is why I'm supporting Count Binface".
Davey goes on to thank Starmer for his "public service", adding: "Although we've not always agreed, I've always admired the way he's led his party, the way he's been a true patriot."
He asks Starmer if he will continue to speak up for family carers after he leaves No 10, as he has previously done do.
"Yes," replies the PM, adding his thanks to Davey for his work on championing social care.
Labour MP Melanie Onn asks Starmer whether he agrees that the government must stick with its pledge to honour Labour's pledge to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.
Starmer says he does agree the government should honour its pledge.
He adds that no matter what role he may find himself in next, "I will continue to campaign for that for as long as I've got breath in my body".
PM thanks Badenoch as she pays tribute to his family
Badenoch wraps up by paying tribute to Starmer's family, who are watching from the gallery.
"I know how much his wife and children mean to him," she says, thanking them "for the love and support" they gave him as PM.
Starmer thanks Badenoch and in turn wishes her and her family well.
He adds that while the pair have had "robust exchanges", Badenoch has extended kindness to the PM privately, particularly when there was an attempt to burn down his family home, which Starmer says "deeply affected my family".
Starmer also thanks Badenoch for reaching out to him when his brother died of cancer.
The PM describes how being leader of the opposition is "the most difficult job in politics" and speaks about how he picked up Labour after the 2019 general election.
He says that election "nearly broke my party" and that he is proud to leave the country in "a better shape than I found it".
Image source, House of Commons“I say this to Labour MPs with as much goodwill as I can muster," Badenoch continues, adding that changing PM is not a silver bullet.
Labour's problems, she suggests, may only just be beginning.
Badenoch asks: "The PM once said that when he pulled the levers nothing happened – why did he think that was?"
Starmer replies that Labour successfully pulled the levers on stabilising the economy.
He adds that his government also strengthens public services, going on to list various achievements such as reducing NHS waiting lists and investing in defence.
Badenoch says "everyone in politics" would "do well to remember how quickly political fortunes can change".
She says Starmer told her when she took up her role that she "wouldn't last the year".
"Life comes at you fast," she jokes, prompting laughter from the PM.
She again asks if Starmer has any advice for his successor.
He says he will give his "wholehearted support" to the next PM, and that he wants the Labour government and the country "to be a success".
"I will give my support privately if asked for, not publicly when not asked for," he adds.
Image source, House of CommonsBadenoch asks Starmer if his successor Andy Burnham should come to the Commons to answer questions, rather than "scurrying away for the summer".
Starmer replies that he has given answers in PMQs "at least 2,800 times", and says he is sure Badenoch will question his successor in the same manner she has questioned him.
For context: Andy Burnham has not attended PMQs since returning to Parliament and there is no sign of him on the Labour benches again today. The former Greater Manchester mayor will face his first PMQs in early September, after the summer recess.
