Sir Keir Starmer had his final Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday. He is stepping down as Labour leader on Friday, and Andy Burnham will replace him BBC.

Starmer will stay as prime minister until he formally resigns to the King. Burnham will then be asked to form a new government. This is the first time Labour has changed leaders while actually in power since winning the 2024 election.

Prime Minister's Questions is a weekly session where Opposition leaders can directly question the sitting prime minister. On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch, who leads the Opposition, asked six questions. Backbench MPs from different parties asked others. The Speaker thanked Starmer for his service at the start BBC.

This was not the only thing happening in Parliament that week. On Monday, MPs gave tributes to Ann Widdecombe, a former Conservative minister who had recently died. She was Minister for Prisons and Minister for Employment. These tribute sessions are a long-standing tradition where MPs from all parties stand together to remember a colleague Hansard.

Parliament carried on with its normal schedule during this leadership change. MPs debated the Government's Immigration and Asylum Bill during the week of 13–17 July Hansard Society. This shows that the machinery of government does not stop when a party changes leader.

The process is straightforward. Starmer remains prime minister until he resigns to the King. Burnham then becomes leader and is invited to form the new government. The BBC reported that this transition should happen quickly — Starmer steps down as Labour leader on Friday, with the change of prime minister expected to follow shortly after.

When a governing party changes its leader in the middle of a term, it is not unusual in British politics — but it is still an unusual event. The outgoing prime minister faces questions knowing he or she is soon to leave office. The Opposition leader has to decide how tough or courteous to be. Government MPs already start thinking about their new leader's direction. On Wednesday, the only formal moment marking that this PMQs was different was the Speaker's thank you at the start.

What happens over the next few days will show how quickly the change takes effect. The way the Immigration and Asylum Bill moves forward through Parliament this week could give us an early hint about whether the new Labour leader plans to stick with the current government's plans or make changes.