In a telling indication of his adjustment to the opposition role, Sir Keir Starmer inadvertently called Rishi Sunak "prime minister" on several occasions during a prime minister’s questions session. The context of this session was particularly somber due to the release of the Grenfell report, which added heft to the discussions and may have contributed to Starmer's lapse in remembering the recent shift in power dynamics following the July general election.

Starmer's missteps occurred while addressing queries regarding the government's suspension of certain arms export licenses to Israel. When discussing these issues, he referred to Sunak as "prime minister" three times, asserting that "the prime minister knows the framework" involved in these decisions. As he continued, he repeated the phrase, causing confusion within the chamber as he corrected himself on one occasion, noting it was" the leader of the opposition" who was in front of him, not the prime minister.

Interestingly, this mix-up echoes similar mistakes made previously by Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who has also referred to Starmer as "prime minister". The Labour Party’s substantial victory in the July general election, where they secured 412 seats to the Conservatives' 121, marks a significant shift in British politics, yet the adjustment for some, including Starmer, appears to still be in progress.