Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed that he attended every Prime Minister’s Questions session from January 2024 until the general election via video link, using what he described as a “perfectly adequate” virtual background of the government benches.
The revelation comes after parliamentary IT staff discovered the Conservative MP for Richmond and Northallerton had been dialling in from his Yorkshire constituency home, where he was apparently able to answer questions about NHS waiting times whilst wearing pyjama bottoms and sitting within arm’s reach of a cafetière.
Several MPs have acknowledged they suspected something was amiss, though most attributed Mr Sunak’s peculiar appearance to what Labour’s Angela Rayner called “his usual slightly artificial quality, like a hologram of a management consultant”.
The virtual background, obtained through a Freedom of Information request by this publication, features a remarkably high-definition image of green leather benches that appears to have been photographed during a particularly well-attended session, possibly during the Blair years. Close analysis reveals that the same three MPs can be seen in identical positions behind Mr Sunak in every session from February through to June.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told reporters that he “probably should have twigged something was up” when he observed what appeared to be a tabby cat walking across the Prime Minister’s lap during a heated exchange about small boat crossings in March.
“I just assumed it was some sort of nervous condition or perhaps an experimental approach to Prime Ministerial gravitas. He did always have that slightly glossy, unmoved quality, even when people were shouting at him from four feet away.”
Parliamentary records indicate that Mr Sunak’s broadband connection dropped entirely during one session in April, leaving the virtual background frozen on screen for approximately seven minutes whilst Labour leader Keir Starmer continued to ask questions to what was essentially a still photograph. Hansard notes that the Speaker remarked only that the Prime Minister seemed “unusually focused” that day.
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said she first became suspicious when she noticed Mr Sunak’s lighting remained consistently perfect despite the chamber’s notoriously uneven illumination, which typically renders most MPs with the appearance of root vegetables in varying states of decay.
“There was also the time his audio cut out and we could all hear what sounded like a microwave ping in the background. The Prime Minister indicated through gestures that he would respond after a brief technical difficulty. When he returned, he did smell faintly of lasagne, though obviously one couldn’t smell that through Zoom.”
Mr Sunak defended the arrangement in a statement issued from his home office, noting that remote attendance had allowed him to respond to parliamentary business whilst also staying on top of various household matters, including accepting deliveries and letting the boiler repair man in on three separate occasions.
A spokesperson for the House of Commons Commission confirmed they are now reviewing all MPs’ attendance records to ensure similar situations have not occurred elsewhere, though they acknowledged it would explain why several backbenchers appear to have been attending votes from what looked suspicingly like Spanish villas.