For all the criticism of Rishi Sunak – mostly from unnamed grumbling MPs on his own benches – there is little doubt that he is a skilled opponent in the virtual House of Commons boxing ring every Wednesday at noon. Meticulous preparation, a mastery of detail and a disarming smile somehow enable him to turn his rival Sir Keir Starmer‘s apparent strength into a glaring weakness.
Given an apparent free hit with the debacle over Nadhim Zahawi’s sacking as Tory party chairman over a tax scandal, the Labour leader came off the benches swinging haymakers.
“When the Prime Minister briefly emerged from his hibernation over the weekend…did he talk to his official [about the tax investigation] before or after he appointed [Mr Zahawi] to his cabinet?”
Like Muhammad Ali rumbling in the jungle the Prime Minister took a couple more verbal punches on the chin as he rope-a-doped the Leader of the Opposition who was swinging again with the accusations of bullying surrounding Justice Secretary Dominic Raab.
And then – wham!
“If he is so concerned with behaviour in public life then recently one of his own MPs was forced to speak out because being in his party had reminded her of being in an abusive relationship,” the PM counter-punched, opening up a nifty combination with an: “If he can’t be trusted for standing up for women in his party, he can’t be trusted for standing up for Britain.”
A reeling Starmer looked slightly unstead on his feet as he came back with more of the allegations.
But there were more blows for the Labour leader to land – or so he thought.
“Was it a coincidence that the two people who arranged an £800,000 loan for the former Prime Minister were shortlisted for plum jobs at the BBC and British Council?”
The Prime Minister barely blinked as he delivered his next crunching jab in response.
“The appointments were fully supported not just by an expert panel but also by the cross party DCMS select committee including Labour members who described the appointment as impressive.”
He wasn’t finished though and, unlike Starmer, Mr Sunak’s punches were landing.
“He voted this week with the unions to oppose minimum safety levels, he voted with Just Stop Oil to water down the public order bill.
“What do the unions and Just Stop Oil have in common? They bank roll him and his party.”
READ MORE: Sunak skewers Starmer in furious rebuttal over bullying claims
In the parlance, it was a proper monstering the Labour leader received for the fourth week in a row from a Prime Minister who should by all rights be laid out on the floor from atrocious polling results and a gathering rebellion on his own benches.
And Mr Sunak was far from finished. He still had the old Jeremy Corbyn upper cut.
“What did he [Starmer] say at the weekend? He said hate had been allowed to spread unchallenged in the Labour Party under his predecessor [Jeremy Corbyn].
“He was speaking as if he wasn’t even there. But he was sitting right next to him, supporting him for four long years not challenging.
“That is typical of him, declining to lead, sitting on the fence, carping from the sidelines, and never standing up for a principle that matters.”
Every week, the Corbyn shot comes and every week it lands.
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While Starmer kept blasting out that Mr Sunak is “weak” and “pathetic” every time he said the word it sounded like he was reaching desperately for adjectives to describe himself.
Many Tory MPs think that their chances of winning the next election are “stuffed” – but maybe they are not.. considering that the party opposite is lead by a man quite capable of knocking his own chances out.
PMQs also underlined that once again, while Mr Sunak may have spent too much time in the bunker, he is quite capable of winning a political fight.
The resounding cheers from his own benches today suggested that tory MPs may have begun to grasp that.