Who won?

Luke Akehurst: Obviously I’m biased but I thought Ed won it. He struck an appropriate note of seriousness and gravitas. He demonstrated a willingness to be bipartisan on Afghanistan and the tragic Linda Norgrove case. He showed seriousness about the deficit and welfare reform by saying he wanted to reform Disability Living Allowance and sickness benefit. And he chose to focus on a Middle England issue by concentrating on the way the child benefit cut will hit families with only one working parent. The forensic probing on this was great – particularly spelling out that the loss to a family on £33,000 after tax with three kids was £2,500, equivalent to 6p on income tax. In contrast Cameron was shrill, kept talking about the past rather than about Ed, and seemed in electioneering rather than statesman mode. He seemed rattled.

Sally Keeble: Clever Ed! He worsted David Cameron, dominated the chamber, and looked like he was enjoying himself in his first PMQs as leader of the opposition.

It was the most surefooted debut performance I have seen.

He chose the right target – child benefit – and dealt with it in the right way, by personalising. In place of David Cameron’s 15 per cent, he talked about deputy headteachers and senior police officers, specific families. His target was not so much the squeezed middle as the pitbulls with lipstick who have proved such a potent political force in America.

His use of figures was clever too – £33,000 after tax sounds like a lot less than £44,000 before. And 6p on the basic rate of tax sounds like a huge tax rise. And £2,500 sounds like a lot to lose, so we’ll overlook the fact that its for a larger than average family.

The tactics were clever too, understatement turning into deadpan mockery. And as every Labour backbencher knows, if there is one thing David Cameron can’t deal with it’s mockery. He goes completely pink, as he did today. George Young, sitting two along from Cameron was transfixed.

So Ed won, hands down. He also got the prize for humour for making people laugh.

Tory efforts to discredit our leadership contest were pathetic. David Evenett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) is no pitbull – more like being savaged by a dead sheep. So that’s that done and dusted.

Chris Weavers: On the question of who won – the answer is clearly Ed Miliband. While there was no knockout he did achieve a clear win on points – the type of victory he was clearly aiming for. David Cameron used a one-liner to suggest that instead of ‘red’ Ed was in fact ‘Brown’. But it was in fact Cameron himself who relied entirely on the strategy that he once berated Brown for – refusing to answer specific questions and sticking to generalities.

Overall, a performance from the leader of the opposition that appeared calm, confident, and consistent, and a prime minister that appeared rattled and more than a little uncomfortable.

Best backbencher?

LA: Kevin Brennan – great crisp, funny question about Clegg’s broken pledge to students.

SK: Prize to the best backbencher was won by accident by Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) for tying David Cameron up in knots with a question on winter fuel. The prime minister said he hadn’t heard it, but I think the Tories have problems with non-metropolitan accents. Then he tried to say he would write in response, then he asked Jim to repeat the question, then he resorted to ‘I made a promise at the elections and will stand by it’.

We’ll see about that next week.

CW: The best question from a backbencher has to go to Jim Cunningham with his question on the winter fuel allowance, not just for content but for having to ask it twice before eliciting a response from an inattentive Cameron.

Cameron responded that he had made a very clear commitment at the election and will stick by that. A note of caution may have been struck by the reminder that Cameron had during the election said ‘I like child benefit. I wouldn’t change child benefit, I wouldn’t means test it, I don’t think that’s a good idea’.

Best question, answer, comment or joke?

LA: Cameron’s ‘it’s not red, it’s Brown’. A great joke but a political mistake as it kills any attempt by the Tories to pursue the ‘Red Ed’ narrative.

SK: To give them their due, some of the new Tories did well. Esther McVey (Wirral West) put a gritty question about student finance, Margot James (Stourbridge) invoked the spirit of the late Claire Rayner with a question on the NHS, and David Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) had a pop at high salaries in local government. Our whips need to make sure that our talented newcomers are up on their feet more at PMQs.

CW: The simple question from Ed Miliband to Cameron – ‘I agree with the prime minister – why doesn’t he?’ A simple but effective play on the convention of identifying splits within political parties.