DAVID CAMERON was greeted by a giant yellow chicken yesterday as he was driven out of Downing Street. The sight of a feathered follower has become familiar for the PM since he started dodging TV debates with Ed Miliband.

He could not though flap his way out of his 146th — and, fingers crossed — final Prime Minister’s questions of this parliament. It came after a rough week for the PM, in which he sparked a Tory leadership contest weeks before the election by letting slip his plans to retire in 2020.

Opening his questioning, Mr Miliband offered to arrange the “right honourable gentleman’s retirement” in exactly 42 days’ time.