MPs shouted and brayed dutifully in a veneer of support of their leader, but the exercise seemed mechanical
It was hardly standing room only, as there were still one or two gaps to be seen. But the Tory benches were a great deal fuller for prime minister’s questions than they had been last week. Not that all the Conservative MPs looked too thrilled to have been strong-armed by the whips into making a Commons appearance in a veneer of enthusiasm for an accident-prone leader. Though they shouted and brayed in all the right places, there was something mechanical about the whole exercise. A try-hard play with all passion spent.
Nor was all entirely well on the front bench. There’s not much love lost between Rishi Pig and Boris Pig, with both sides spending most of their time briefing against each other, and the chancellor had carefully made sure there were the maskless Liz Truss and Priti Patel between him and the prime minister.