Neil Kinnock of Labour wasn’t interested in exchanging pleasantries with Thatcher, questioning why her job contenders were “wriggling around trying to find a way out of the poll tax trap.” Britain’s first female prime minister, adjusting her statement, indicated she thought “they were keeping the poll … the community charge.” John Major abolished it the next year.
In Tony Blair’s final appearance on June 27, 2007, Tory leader David Cameron maintained a courteous stance, addressing topics like flooding and the Middle East before commending Blair for his decade in office and his “considerable achievements.” Cameron even encouraged his MPs to join the cross-party standing ovation for Blair and refrained from reiterating his past “he was the future once” remark. In anticipation of future debates, Blair responded to Euroskeptic Tory MP Nicholas Winterton’s criticism of the EU by suggesting that if he were a Tory leader, he’d be concerned by the “guttural roar” reacting to EU criticism. Blair concluded with “au revoir,” “auf Wiedersehen,” and “arrivederci.”
On July 13, 2016, during Cameron’s farewell, Jeremy Corbyn and David Cameron disputed statistics related to the Tory government’s track record as each party faced different leadership contests. Cameron lauded his party’s decisiveness as Theresa May was poised to succeed: “We got on with it. We have had resignation, nomination, competition and coronation. The opposition have not even decided what the rules are yet.” Despite a no-confidence vote from Labour MPs, Corbyn asserted that “democracy is an exciting and splendid thing and I am enjoying every moment of it.” Cameron concluded his Commons speech reminiscing “I was the future once,” with a standing ovation from his own MPs and polite applause from Labour.
On July 24, 2019, Corbyn bid adieu to Theresa May with focus inevitably shifting to Brexit. The Labour leader lambasted “three years of bungled negotiations” and non-negotiable “red lines” which “ruled out any sensible compromise deal,” while May accused Corbyn of “playing party politics,” urging him to be “ashamed of himself.” Though May highlighted their joint “commitment to our constituencies,” she implied “perhaps the time is now” for Corbyn to resign as well. He would eventually do so, nine months later. Women MPs like Harriet Harman commended May’s dedication to gender equality, warning that “sometimes, you just have to be a bit more careful when a man wants to hold your hand.”
On July 20, 2022, Boris Johnson departed from No. 10 amid a leadership race to succeed him, a fact Keir Starmer capitalized on. Though the then-PM asserted that any successor would “like some household detergent, wipe the floor” with him, Starmer alleged a debate was scrapped because the “public actually heard from the candidates first hand.” Johnson jestingly referred to Starmer as one of those “pointless plastic bollards,” and closed with “Hasta la vista, baby.” Will Starmer end his speech with that line today?
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