Isabel Hardman

Chloe Smith is just 40 years old, an age at which people normally start to think about entering the Commons. But today, with five election victories in her Norwich North seat under her belt, she announced she’s leaving. The former work and pensions secretary said in a statement: ‘I hope I’ve been able to make a difference, locally and nationally. In 2024, after fifteen years of service, it will be the right time to step back, for me and my young family.’It’s been quite a stint for Smith, who mentioned ‘tough personal times’ in her announcement: she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 and got the all-clear last year. Mind you, it’s been a busy few years for all MPs, which is one of the reasons so many of them call it a day much earlier than their predecessors.

What was Ipsa thinking? That's the question MPs are asking today after it emerged that the parliamentary spending regulator has decided MPs can claim for their office Christmas parties on expenses. There’s never a good time to make that kind of decision, but particularly not when their constituents aren't even turning their heating on or using their ovens.Ipsa issued the guidance in one of its regular bulletins, telling members that they could claim for food, decorations and non-alcoholic drinks for an 'office festive event' but that it needed to 'represent value for money, especially in the current climate'.

One of the few jokes in Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement was when the Chancellor started talking about himself. As is the custom in fiscal events, he praised a colleague who had come up with an idea that he was now adopting, though it was immediately obvious that this member was Hunt: On staff shortages, the former chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee put forward the case for a long-term workforce plan. He even wrote a book about them. I have listened carefully to his proposals and believe they have merit. So the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS will publish an independently-verified plan for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals we will need in five, ten and 15 years’ time. MPs chuckled indulgently.

Rachel Reeves is getting better and better as Shadow Chancellor. Mind you, her response to Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement was the second one she’s had to produce in two months, given it was only in September that she was reacting to Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget. There was plenty to criticise and plenty of political attacks to launch. And she offered it all with a mix of cold fury and jokes.  Reeves framed her assessment of Hunt’s economic announcements using the famous Ronald Reagan question of whether people felt better off as a result of the government. She said voters would be asking: 'Are me and my family better off with a Conservative government? – and the answer is “no”.

Keir Starmer’s early leadership was defined by the expulsion of his predecessor. Jeremy Corbyn is no longer a Labour MP and will not be a Labour candidate at the next election. But now another former party leader is quietly defining Starmer’s leadership. This week Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, caused outrage by suggesting that rich countries should pay aid to nations worst hit by climate change. Miliband’s influence extends far beyond his brief. Resentment has been brewing among Labour frontbenchers about just how much Starmer seems to listen to him. After all, he presided over one of Labour’s worst election results in 2015, a memory that has faded only because Corbyn did even more damage four years later.

Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions showed it is possible for someone who has resigned for being a distraction to continue being so even in absentia. The first questions from Keir Starmer were all about Rishi Sunak’s appointment of Gavin Williamson and his departure. The Labour leader had good lines, while the Prime Minister was unable to show strength in suggesting he had been the one to force Williamson out of government. Instead he could only say that he regretted ‘appointing someone who had to resign in these circumstances’ and that he wanted to send a message that ‘integrity in public life matters, that is why it is right that he resigned’. It all made Sunak sound rather passive and as though Williamson had been calling the shots.