Theresa May

I think it gives MPs an adrenalin boost, which must help. I think they do have to kind of act a part.

I expect that will be misunderstood. Hey ho!

I'm off to Derbyshire.

Everybody but you wanted it to change, roses.
PMQs is to give the voters some idea of how parliament conducts business. Personally I would think that some of the support Corbyn gets is because of his treatment and behaviour at PMQs over the last 9 months, particularly by the PLP.
I can see quite a few of those MPs being deselected because of the way they are seen to behave in parliament.

There has always been this kind of political sniping in parliament. Always! According to some history I've read, it was far worse in the past and is comparatively civilised nowadays.

Yes rose you are certainly right in that PMQs is all about playing to the gallery and keeping your backbencher's happy. However, there is a classy way of doing things and there is crassness. TM fell into the latter I am afraid.

It was the expression on her face roses that was unpleasant, not particularly the words.

Having watched PMQ's for donkey's years, it's obvious that it isn't about answering questions ( after all, it would be easy enough to find out the answers, outside the chamber.)It's about ( for the PM) getting the confidence of his/ her own party, and for the Leader of the Opposition, about getting the same confidence from his/her own side.So of course there is grandstanding, showboating etc, as that is all part of it.
PMQ's is just a tiny part of politics in Westminster, the serious and important stuff goes on elsewhere.All this talk of bullying and nastyness is childish, as all the MP's understand what is going on, and if a leader can't deal with it they probably should not be leader( in Corbyn's case he has already lost the confidence if the majority of his own side anyway.)

Interesting, Welshwife. I wonder if you would think differently if you had seen the whole of the speech.

My estimation of TM went down to zero when I saw her on PMQT - I thought she showed her true colours as a nasty piece of work - which was a huge disappointment to me. Then last night I saw a clip of JC giving a speech and he came over as a nasty spiteful man - what has happened to British politics? They used to be able to have a bit of a spat in a nice way and then go off to the bar together!

True, but if European leaders respect her, I think that will help. She may not do the actual negotiating but she will influence it as the 'boss' of the negotiators. A respected leader of the country does seem to matter.

But May won't be negotiating Brexit, she has given that job to Fox, Davies and Johnson. It's on their heads if it all goes pear shaped.

We need a strong leader to negotiate Brexit to our best advantage. I think May is a good person for the job. To put it crudely, she doesn't seem to take any shit.

I thought her remarks to Corbyn were spot on. The man's an embarassment to a large proportion of core Labour voters and should be called out on his ridiculousness.

I thought her remarks - and the way in which she delivered them - were spiteful and unnecessary. I wonder if she would be so brave if Corbyn didn't have almost everybody at his throat. She's just a nasty bully.

You're kidding AB?!

An ex script writer for Cameron said it took about two hours to write for PMQ

I really don't get the attraction of the laboured, obviously written for them, "jokes" and insults. I think it brings parliament into disrepute and encourages bad behaviour. Though my MP says "people like it when they visit parliament". I guess it is more interesting than watching the normal debates... but politics is not supposed to be entertainment. Too much is at stake.

Sound bites got the Tories in and will again

Yes bd I am very fearful of what the future holds. Think what Thatcher did, but there were areas that she wouldn't touch. We have been softened up for years by the idea of "austerity" and that old chestnut of living within our means. The NHS is a sitting duck.

I thought it showed a particularly nasty streak, and emphasised why the Police hate her so much. The last comments I thought were virulent and reminded me so much of the classroom bully. She came out originally with all the leftish ideas of looking after the ones who need it etc etc, but she has shown by her cabinet appointments and her behaviour that she is very right-wing and may well outdo Thatcher.

Authority over what?

Command of your subject would be a start. Sound bites and playing to the eve ing headlines is precisely what the voter is utterly fed up with.

We want politicians who are measured and clearly in control of the subject under discussion.

According to Patrick Kidd, "PMQs is not about getting answers to questions. In almost a year in the job Mr Corbyn has still not learnt that. It is about showing authority".

He also compares TM to Thatcher. Yikes.

Just so Wilma, I was so disappointed that she sunk to mocking,

She's no stranger to standing in that place, but it was as Home Secretary before. I don't really remember seeing her speaking there in that role, but I was probably listening to what she was saying. Obviously as the new PM she was under the spotlight, but I hope not to be distracted by her style of presentation again.

As I said, I want to think well of her (even if she is a Tory ). I want to believe a woman can be our PM and behave in a dignified manner. Angela Merkel is such a great role model and Norway's Erna Solberg from what I've seen of her.

It wasn't her finest hour but she was obviously nervous and did anyone spot the big sigh of relief on her face when she sat down?
She will doubtless study the reruns and improve with time.

True Jane,but Gordon Brown was also mocked for the loss of vision . This man could teach certain politicians how to behave both at PMQ and when witnessing bullying

As someone said rather elegantly it gave the Tory backbencher's their first ejaculation. She was talking to her party no one else. But it was not a particularly classy performance.