DAVID CAMERON HAS chaired his last Prime Minister’s Questions in Westminster, before Theresa May takes over in Number 10 later today.
In a largely good-natured session, the outgoing PM defended his achievements over the last six years, took a pop at Labour for the party’s lack of progress in its own leadership contest, and told his fellow MPs he would “miss the roar of the crowd”.
“I will watch these exchanges from the back benches,” he said.
“I will miss the roar of the crowd, I will miss the barbs from the opposition, but I will be willing you on.
“And when I say willing you on, I don’t just mean willing on the new prime minister at this despatch box, or indeed just willing on the front bench defending the manifesto that I helped put together. But I mean willing all of you on, because people come here with huge passion for the issues they are about. They come here with great love for the constituencies that they represent.
And also willing on this place. Because, yes, we can be pretty tough and test and challenge our leaders – perhaps more than some other countries – but that is something we should be proud of and we should keep at it, and I hope you will all keep at it, and I will will you on as you do.
He also echoed a line he had once used to address Tony Blair, during his first PMQs as opposition leader, back in 2005, when he said of the Labour PM “he was the future once”.
“The last thing I would say is that you can achieve a lot of things in politics,” Cameron said.
“You can get a lot of things done. And that in the end, the public service, the national interest, that is what it is all about. Nothing is really impossible if you put your mind to it.
After all, as I once said, I was the future once.
‘Just a flesh wound’
While there are usually plenty of aggressive exchanges during the parliamentary Q&A session, the mood was lighter today.
Cameron drew laughs from both sides of the aisle as he compared the embattled Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to the ‘Black Knight’ character from Monty Python’s Holy Grail.
In an oft-quoted scene from the film, the knight repeatedly refuses to back down from a fight with a sword-wielding King Arthur – saying “it’s just a flesh wound” as his arms and legs are hacked off.
The Conservative leader announced his resignation in the immediate aftermath of last month’s Brexit referendum result. He had led the campaign of the losing ‘Remain’ side.
May, the home secretary, will take over as prime minister this evening, after Cameron hands in his resignation to the Queen.
Cameron was given a standing ovation by Tory MPs as he ended the session, with Labour MPs also applauding.
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