Jeremy Corbyn has said he will not be silent once he steps down as Labour leader.

“My voice will not be stilled,” Corbyn told MPs on Wednesday. “I will be around. I will be campaigning. I will be arguing and demanding justice for the people of this country and indeed the rest of the world.”

It came after Boris Johnson paid tribute to Corbyn for his “service to the party and indeed the country” since 2015 in the “very difficult job” of leader of the opposition.

Wednesday was Corbyn’s last appearance at PMQs, as parliament is set to rise for recess at the end of the day.

Labour is due to announce Corbyn’s replacement as leader on April 4.

Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, is seen as highly likely to beat Corbyn ally Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy to the top job.

Speaking in the Commons, Johnson said: “Perhaps I could begin by pointing out that this is the honourable gentleman’s last prime minister’s questions and it would be appropriate for me to pay tribute to him, his service to the party, and indeed the country over the last four years in a very difficult job.

“We may not agree on everything but no one can doubt his sincerity and determination to build a better society.”

Corbyn thanked Johnson for his “very kind remarks” but added it appeared “he was talking as if it was some kind of obituary”.

After Corbyn made clear he was not going to disappear from political debate just because he was no longer leader, Johnson observed this would be “warmly welcomed by his successor”.

John McDonnell, the outgoing shadow chancellor, recently also warned critics of the Corbyn project that the left of the party was “not going away” and would “play a different role”.

PMQs was scheduled to run for an hour today, giving MPs twice the time typically allotted under new Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to scrutinise Johnson over his coronavirus plans.