Rishi Sunak made a genuinely funny joke during today’s Prime Minister’s Questions as he welcomed the newly-elected MP for Mid Bedfordshire.
Kicking off the session in the House of Commons, Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the two new members for the Labour Party after double by-election wins last week.
He said: “Can I start by welcoming the new member for Mid Bedfordshire (Mr Strathern)? The first Labour MP ever to represent those beautiful towns and villages. He defied the odds of history and of course the fantasy Lib Dem bar charts.
“Can I also welcome the new member for Tamworth (Sarah Edwards)? She will be a powerful representative for her constituents.
“Is the Prime Minister as relieved as I am that those constituents are not burdened with his defeated candidate (Mr Cooper), who told them – don’t worry Mr Speaker, I am going to sanitise this – to ‘eff off if they’re struggling with the cost of living’?”
Sunak replied: “Can I in fact join him in welcoming the new members to their places? After all, I suspect the new member for Mid Beds might actually support me a little bit more than the last one.”
As laughter erupted across the Commons chamber, Mr Sunak continued: “Although, I did notice that the new member said that they will be opposing new housing in their local area while the new member for Tamworth claimed that they will protect green spaces.
“I would urge them to have a word with their leader, because that’s not exactly his position – although with his track record of U-turns, who knows what his housing policy will be next week?”
Watch the clip in full below:
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