Theresa May has used her last appearance at prime minister’s questions to tell Jeremy Corbyn to resign as Labour leader.
In a spiky final exchange at the dispatch box, the prime minister – who will leave Number 10 on Wednesday afternoon after visiting the Queen to hand in her official resignation – said the two were “very different politicians”.
What they do have in common is a “commitment to our constituencies”, May admitted.
“But perhaps I could just finish my exchange with him by saying this: As a party leader who has accepted when her time was up, perhaps the time is now for him to do the same.”
The comment sparked huge cheers from the Tory benches – and a small smile from Corbyn himself.
Dudley North MP Ian Austin – who resigned from Labour in February after accusing the party of being anti-Semitic – later echoed the PM’s suggestion, saying: “The vast majority of Labour MPs agree with her too”.
Corbyn’s spokesperson told reporters later: “Jeremy is not worried about what Ian Austin is saying. Ian Austin is a former Labour MP and is in a different game entirely.”
May’s comments are not the first time an outgoing Tory prime minister has called on the Labour leader to step down.
“It might be in my party’s interest for him to sit there – it’s not in the national interest.”
May’s appearance in the Commons came just hours before Boris Johnson – who was announced Tory leader on Tuesday – was set to become prime minister.
Having concluded PMQs to a standing ovation in the Commons, the prime minister returned to Number 10 for a final lunch in the garden with her husband Philip.
Meanwhile Johnson – who received almost double the number of votes his fellow contender Jeremy Hunt did in the leadership contest – is expected to announce the first appointments in his new Cabinet on Wednesday evening.