The SNP is dreaming of a Johnson premiership, and other lessons from today’s PMQs

Scotland's First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon (L) and SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford MP (R) talk as they before the start of an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, in Portsmouth, southern England, on June 5, 2019. - US President Donald Trump, Queen Elizabeth II and 300 veterans are to gather on the south coast of England on Wednesday for a poignant ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Other world leaders will join them in Portsmouth for Britain's national event to commemorate the Allied invasion of the Normandy beaches in France -- one of the turning points of World War II. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) (Photo credit should read TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images)

With the Conservative Party consumed by the prime ministerial succession, it’s easy to forget that the incumbent is still technically in office – and increasingly it seems that MPs have. Coming as it did on the back of Boris Johnson’s leadership launch, today’s PMQs – one of Theresa May’s last – was unsurprisingly subdued, with plenty of green leather visible.

But despite the lack of fireworks, this afternoon’s session did offer some clues as to the challenges awaiting the next occupant of Number 10.

The SNP are dreaming of a Boris Johnson premiership

Ian Blackford chose not to scrutinise May on her prime ministerial record, but instead on proposals made by her would-be successors. Did she agree with Boris Johnson’s proposed tax cuts for higher earners, with a no-deal Brexit, or with proroguing parliament in order to achieve it?

In his follow-up, Blackford went on to characterise the Brexiteer candidates for the premiership as ideological fantasists. May, predictably, wouldn’t be drawn into offering condemnation. Instead, she told the SNP leader that he would have to opportunity to question her successor in due course. On today’s evidence, that is a prospect that Blackford and Nicola Sturgeon will relish. For the Nats, there is no greater advertisement for independence than a Johnson or Raab premiership.

Theresa May knows what she wants her legacy to be

One of the livelier moments in today’s uniformly dreary exchange between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn saw the prime minister chide the Labour leader for failing to acknowledge the government’s plans to legislate for zero net carbon emissions by 2050 – the last thing May is likely to do as prime minister.

Vicky Ford, an enthusiastically loyal government PPS, also rose to praise the plan. May also spoke at length on having successfully criminalised modern slavery.

With Westminster overwhelmed by May’s failures in office, the prime minister is already sanding the sharper edges off her own political obituary.

MPs are no longer pretending that PMQs is about scrutiny

Genuinely witty observations from Theresa May at the despatch box are rare. One, however, was forthcoming this afternoon. As Jeremy Corbyn sat down after his final lengthy peroration, May drily noted that the leader of the opposition had secured his clip for social media. And as ever, Ian Blackford’s questions – or rather, speeches – fell into the same category.

That opposition members treat Wednesday lunchtimes as an opportunity to generate viral content for their own supporters has long been obvious, and, indeed, openly acknowledged by their teams in private.

But it is another thing for the prime minister herself to acknowledge that at the despatch box. The increasing pointlessness of PMQs as an opportunity to scrutinise is chief among the many reasons MPs are switching off and staying away, much to Downing Street’s consternation. Renewing the sense of occasion will be a big ask for the next Tory leader.