The Deputy and Shadow Deputy Prime Ministers “clashed” in today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), although some online have accused them of “flirting.”

Angela Rayner and Oliver Dowden stepped in for Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak, and Rayner fielded questions ahead of next week’s budget.

PMQs are usually raucous affairs, but many were surprised by the cordial nature of the encounter.

In the final PMQs before the culmination of the Conservative leadership contest, Rayner had kind words for her opponent, whom she had come up against previously.

In a discussion on protests against the King during his trip to Australia, Rayner stood at the dispatch box, smiled affectionately at her rival and said: “I will miss our exchanges.

“The battle of the gingers, the late-night voting, in that spirit, I will agree with my right honourable friend that the King does a tremendous job, and so did the late Queen.”

Mr Dowden asked Ms Rayner if she could define what constitutes as “working people” as phrased used throughout the general election to describe those who would not face higher taxes.

But the Deputy PM was able to swerve the question easily, leading to many criticising Mr Dowden for “fielding softball questions.”

One user said on X: “What a pathetic (deputy) PMQs. Dowden is playing softballs for Rayner to smack. Opposition??? Where exactly??”

Another user accused the two rivals of “flirting”.

A third added: “Serious chemistry here between Angela Rayner and Oliver Dowden.”

Although the latest comments appeared to be largely good-natured, there have been allegations levelled against Ms Rayner in the past of using seduction to distract the opposition in the Commons, which she said left her “crestfallen.”

In 2022, a newspaper was widely criticised for levelling a strange accusation at Rayner, which claimed that she was trying to distract the PM by crossing and uncrossing her legs.

The image, made famous in the film Basic Instincts, was labelled as “sexist tripe” by then-PM Boris Johnson.