When the phrases ‘the Prime Minister is not under a desk’ and ‘I don’t think there has been a coup’ are put forward by a minister tasked with defending their boss, it’s a sign that the parliamentary session has not gone to plan. This was the case this afternoon when Penny Mordaunt was sent to face the music on behalf of the Prime Minister. After Liz Truss U-turned on close to the entirety of her not-so-mini Budget this morning, Labour tabled an Urgent Question summoning Truss to explain herself. The Prime Minister declined – and sent the Leader of the House in her place.

Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the session was focussed on one simple question: where was Liz Truss? Mordaunt repeatedly expressed her regret that Truss was unable to be there. She insisted Truss would be there if she could and that she has a ‘very genuine’ reason for her absence. When pressed on what that was, Mordaunt – who is tipped as a potential successor to Truss – said regretfully she was unable to share the reason – having asked if she could and been told no. Truss did arrive for the next session – the statement from the Chancellor. No. 10 are declining to give the reason for her absence.

Now it may be that the reason eventually comes to light and the jokes at Truss’s expense start to look misjudged. But for now, Labour have plenty to enjoy from the exchanges. Starmer was in his element as Mordaunt put in a confident performance but one in which she had little material to work with. At times, however, Mordaunt’s comments – such as repeating the charge that Truss was under a desk – were approaching unhelpful coming from someone with plenty of Commons experience. On the government’s decision to junk much of the not-so-mini Budget, Mordaunt said it was the right the decision for the country and praised Truss for making what will have personally been a very difficult decision given it involves scrapping much of her leadership campaign.

There was one ray of light for Truss. The early signs point to a party that is not yet in open revolt. There were a number of supportive questions from the Tory benches and even some positive noises when Mordaunt defended Truss. Whether that holds when Truss takes to the despatch box on Wednesday for Prime Minister’s questions is another matter entirely.