PMQs: After a year of battles, Theresa May is still in office – but Corbyn is the one who holds the power

At the start of the year, Corbyn was hunched and miserable. The Labour benches behind him were sullen and quiet. Since the election, all has changed

The big change in Prime Minister’s Questions over the year has been the gain in Jeremy Corbyn’s confidence. It is amazing what exceeding expectations in an election can do for you. Theresa May’s withering prepared put-down today was that she was still on the Government side of the House and he – having said he would be prime minister by Christmas – was not.

At the start of the year, Corbyn was hunched and miserable. The Labour benches behind him were sullen and quiet. The Conservatives went through the motions of cheering the Prime Minister and, with a bit more childish enthusiasm, ironically cheering Corbyn when he stood up and happily shouting “More!” when he sat down.

Sometimes, taking advantage of the low expectations of him, Corbyn would get the better of May in the game of scoring debating points. In March, he caught her out over a Conservative manifesto promise to protect school funding for every child.

But most of the time he avoided humiliation only because May herself was such a robotic performer. Every time he got up to speak, David Cameron’s words from their last clash must have rung in his ears – “for heaven’s sake, man, go!” Cameron sincerely believed Corbyn’s failure to put him under pressure was bad for the country.

Interestingly, Corbyn started to grow in stature the moment May called the election. In their last exchange before Parliament was dissolved, he seemed to have entered a new level of serene consciousness. He seemed to relish the noise from Tory MPs, certain that they were heading for a famous victory. Oddly, it was May who seemed uncomfortable and unready for the fight ahead.

This was a premonition of the upcoming transformation. When the Commons reassembled, stripped of its Tory majority, Corbyn was a new man. His body language was open, confident and full of life. The benches behind him, unable to believe their luck, cheered him on with a combination of relief, puzzlement and joy at the Tories’ misfortune.

Since then, he has “won” PMQs repeatedly on universal credit (forcing a U-turn on the paid-for helpline), homelessness and even sometimes on Brexit (previously a subject he avoided).

Of course, PMQs is not a game, but the trading of debating points is central to our democracy. It is an effective means of holding the government to account – as Cameron recognised. It is important for the morale of MPs and activists. Labour supporters often complain about commentators who point out that their leader is a poor performer in the Chamber; but the party’s fearsome social media operation realises what an important platform it is, pumping out edited clips of him from PMQs.

Today was not a great day in the annals of PMQs history. Corbyn retreated to the politically safe subject of the National Health Service. Theresa May gave a reasonably lifelike defence of the Government’s record, but she was never going to win that argument after seven years of tiny real increases in NHS spending that have failed to keep up with rising demand.

She won the game; he won the argument. She is still in office; but Corbyn is the one who looks as if he holds the power.