Dowden hilariously slaps down Rayner as he mocks Labour's 'back door deal' with Lib Dems

Dowden said: "Mr Speaker, in the spirit of the Right Honourable Lady's opening remarks, can I just say it really is a pleasure to see the Right Honourable Lady here today.

"I was though expecting to face the Labour leader's choice for the next Deputy Prime Minister if they win the election so I am surprised that the Lib Dem leader isn't taking questions today."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey could potentially find himself getting a top position in Starmer's Cabinet if recent local election results were emulated the next time Britons head to the polls.

The Leader of the Opposition recently refused to rule out forging a post-election pact with the Liberal Democrats if Labour falls short of the 326 seats needed to command a majority in the House of Commons.

Labour officials were delighted after making more than 600 council seat gains earlier this month.

However, despite the Tories suffering more than 1,000 losses, pollsters warn Labour could fall short of forming a majority Government at the next election.

When asked about a potential pact with the Liberal Democrats, Starmer said: "I’m not answering hypotheticals but we’re aiming for a Labour majority and that’s what we’re confident about."

He added: "We made really good progress in these local elections, and now we will kick on and kick on for a majority Labour Government so we can bring about the change we need."

However, Starmer explicitly ruled out the prospect of a pact with the Scotish National Party.

The Labour leader said: "I’m often asked, you know, will you do a deal with the SNP, and I’ve been absolutely clear, there are no terms on which we would do a deal with the SNP."

But former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable cast doubts about whether his ex-colleagues would enter a full-blown coalition.

Looking back at David Cameron's coalition with Nick Clegg, Cable said: "“I have always taken the view that even a coalition with Labour is highly improbable.

“If there were an understanding post-election, [I do not believe] it would be structured in that way.”

The Deputy Prime Minister was responding to Rayner's remarks about facing her third stand-in Tory since joining Starmer in Labour's top team.

She said: "It's a pleasure to welcome yet another Deputy Prime Minister to the despatch box.

"The third Deputy that I have faced in three years and you know what they say: 'Third time's the charm'.

"And I'm also pleased to note, Mr Speaker, that the Prime Minister has a working-class friend, finally."

But Dowden, who replaced Dominic Raab as Deputy Prime Minister following an investigation into alleged bullying, told Rayner: "Mr Speaker, you will forgive me if I take the Right Honourable Lady's predictions with a pinch of salt.

"After all, she confidently predicted that the Right Honourable member for Islington North would one day be Prime Minister.

"Remember, this is a man who wanted to abolish the army, scrap trident, withdraw from NATO and abandon Ukraine.

"And what did she say to that? She couldn't wait for him to be Prime Minister."

Jeremy Corbyn, who appointed Rayner as Shadow Education Secretary, was booted out of the Labour Party and banned from standing as one of its candidates over his comments about the critical report in anti-semitism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.