Who won Boris Johnson's last Prime Minister's Questions as Tory leader declares 'Hasta la vista, baby'

Rarely has a leader of the opposition approached Prime Minister's Questions with so much stockpiled ammunition.

After all, why dig up dirt on your opponents when you can just quote the insults they fling at each other?

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak calling the plans of his Tory leadership rivals “fantasy economics”; foreign secretary Liz Truss claiming Mr Sunak’s tax rises are choking growth; Penny Mordaunt saying public services are in a “desperate state”.

Fair play to the Tory leadership candidates – they managed to land some great blows on the Tories.

Picture: UK Parliament's Parliamentary Recording Unit / AFP via Getty Images

The televised debates were a goldmine for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

"They organised the TV debates because they thought it would be a great chance for the public to hear from the candidates first-hand – then disaster struck, because the public actually heard from the candidates first-hand,” he quipped.

Boris Johnson spent his last Prime Minister’s Questions in full-blown bluster mode, dodging questions and launching into rapid-fire tangents.

He insisted any one of his potential replacements would wipe the floor with Sir Keir, “like some household detergent”.

The Labour leader had some good lines up his sleeve, but it’s hard to make anything stick when your opponent has nothing to lose.

"Inflation is up again this morning and millions are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, and he’s decided to come down from his gold-wallpapered bunker for one last time to tell us that everything’s fine,” Sir Keir said. “I am going to miss the delusion.”

Later, Sir Keir asked: “What message does it send when the candidates to be prime minister can’t find a single decent thing to say about him, about each other or their record in Government?”

Mr Johnson retorted: “What does it say about him when no one can name a single policy after four years of the Labour opposition, apart from putting up taxes?

"He’s one of those pointless plastic bollards you find around a deserted roadworks or a motorway.”

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford insisted Mr Johnson had “paved the way for the end of the Union”.

"Quite simply, Downing Street is no place for a law-breaker,” he said.

It was all a long way from the plea made by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the Commons, at the beginning of the session, when he urged MPs to conduct themselves in a “respectful manner, focusing on issues and policies rather than personalities”.

Fat chance of that, thankfully.

Mr Johnson finished by issuing some advice to his successor.

Stay close to the Americans; stick up for the Ukrainians, freedom and democracy; cut taxes and deregulate; don’t always listen to the Treasury; focus on the road ahead but remember to check the rear-view mirror; and above all, remember it’s not Twitter that counts, but your constituents.

The outgoing Prime Minister said he helped to secure the biggest Tory majority in 40 years and pointed to Brexit and the UK Government’s actions during the pandemic.

“Mission largely accomplished, for now,” he concluded, before channelling Arnold Schwarzenegger's title character from Terminator 2 and telling MPs: “Hasta la vista, baby.”

Que standing ovation from the Tories. Wisely, Mr Johnson didn’t say whether he’ll be back.