Kemi Badenoch tells Labour's Bridget Phillipson she's 'destoying children's lives' in post-PMQs dust-up with 'spiteful' Education Secretary

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 14:10, 24 June 2026 | Updated: 14:25, 24 June 2026 Kemi Badenoch was today involved in a furious dust-up with Labour's Bridget Phillipson after she branded the Education Secretary 'spiteful'. The Tory leader and Ms Phillipson exchanged angry words when they left the House of Commons chamber following Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday. With temperatures soaring outside as Britain's heatwave continues, tempers were also revealed to have grown hot inside Parliament. It came after Mrs Badenoch targeted a slew of Cabinet ministers in her first Commons exchanges with Sir Keir since he announced his resignation as Prime Minister. During PMQs, Mrs Badenoch referred to Ms Phillipson as a 'spiteful class warrior' for imposing VAT on private school fees. She also hit out at Chancellor Rachel Reeves for letting the PM down, and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband for 'treachery' towards Sir Keir. Sources revealed the angry exchanges continued after Mrs Badenoch left the chamber, with the Tory leader said to have been involved in a stand up row with both Ms Phillipson and Science Secretary Liz Kendall. A Tory source said Ms Phillipson 'aimed a barb at Kemi' following PMQs, to which Mrs Badenoch shot back: 'I will fight you all the way, you're destroying children's lives'. Kemi Badenoch was involved in a furious dust-up with Labour's Bridget Phillipson after she branded the Education Secretary 'spiteful' Sources said the Tory leader was involved in a stand up row with both Ms Phillipson (right) and Science Secretary Liz Kendall But a source close to the Education Secretary said this was a 'confected' account of the row, adding: 'That is not what she said.' They said Ms Phillipson and Ms Kendall were in the Commons division lobby to vote in a deferred division when Ms Kendall confronted Mrs Badenoch over her 'outrageous' comments at PMQs. The Tory leader is then claimed to have ignored Ms Kendall while turning to Ms Phillipson and saying: 'You are spiteful, I'm never going to stop talking about how spiteful you are.' The source added the Education Secretary then replied to Mrs Badenoch: 'The public are going to find out who you really are.' During PMQs, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle asked for a 'little bit more decorum and respect' after Mrs Badenoch called the Education Secretary a 'spiteful class warrior'. The Tory source said Sir Lindsay's intervention was over Mrs Badenoch telling the Labour benches: 'They don't like it up them'. But the source close to Ms Phillipson insisted the Speaker had been forced to interrupt due to Mrs Badenoch's language in reference to the Education Secretary. They added: 'The Tories are lying.' During PMQs, Mrs Badenoch said of Ms Phillipson: 'She taxed private schools to pay for more teachers, but the number of teachers has gone down. 'It turns out appointing a spiteful class warrior as Education Secretary was a disaster.' Posting on social media after news of her row with Mrs Badenoch emerged, Ms Phillipson wrote: 'Kemi lost her head at PMQs - and afterwards too. 'It's not the first time. She's compared me to a Gestapo officer. 'I wonder what it is about a working class woman driving record investment in state schools by ending private schools' tax breaks that the Tories hate so much.' A spokesman for Mrs Badenoch said she would 'absolutely not' apologise for the language she used in PMQs, adding: 'This was about a Cabinet which has let him down, about a group of Labour MPs who have let him down and now they've got rid of him.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.