MPs across the House of Commons laughed out loud as Angela Eagle delivered the killer line at the final prime minister’s questions of the year.
Eagle, the MP for Wallasey, said: “This year the Tory Party has given us five education secretaries, four chancellors, three prime ministers, two leadership coups ... and the partridge has had to sell the pear tree to pay the gas bill.
“Isn’t it the case that after a year of Tory chaos, incompetence and self-indulgence, the best Christmas present the prime minister could give to the British people is a general election?”
As Labour MPs shouted “more”, PM Rishi Sunak replied: “When it comes to what the British people need this Christmas, in order to ease the disruption in their lives, the best thing that the party opposite could do is tell their union bosses to call off these damaging strikes.”
That was a reference to the wave of industrial action taking place across the country in the weeks ahead.
It is not the first time Eagle has savaged the Tories’ record this year.
When Jeremy Hunt appeared in front of the Treasury select committee last month, she told him: “Chancellor, this year alone your party has given us three prime ministers, four chancellors, four different versions of the Conservative government and six fiscal events.
“One hundred and forty-seven members of the government, including 32 cabinet ministers, have resigned or been sacked.
“What effect do you think this chaos has had on our economic prospects and our international reputation?”
Hunt replied: “I wish we hadn’t had that level of instability.”