Jeremy Corbyn attempted to reinvent Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday by reading out half a dozen questions sent in by Labour supporters and calling for an end to "theatrical" politics.
There had been fears that the new Labour leader, who had never held a frontbench position before being elected at the weekend and had never previously appeared at the House of Commons despatch box, would struggle in the traditional bearpit of the weekly PMQs session. Instead he calmly read out a series of lengthy questions regarding government policy on housing, cuts to tax credits, and mental health.
This is what happened:
1. Corbyn really did take all his questions from members of the public.
Corbyn and Labour's team sifted through 40,000 questions sent in by members of the public. His first question came "from a woman called Marie", who asked: "What does the government intend to do about the chronic lack of affordable housing and the extortionate rents charged by some private sector landlords in this country?"
Marie is a real person; within minutes she was on LBC Radio and said she was delighted that her question had been used. At points Corbyn's habit of using the name of the questioner felt a bit like a radio talk show – but it also made it harder for Cameron to dismiss the questions. Labour aides later insisted Corbyn had sifted through many of the questions himself.
2. MPs on both sides were largely silent while the Labour leader put his questions to David Cameron.
Traditionally both Labour and Conservative MPs fill the House of Commons with noise, as they cheer and jeer where appropriate. But Corbyn's muted new approach to questioning – starting with a speech in which he quietly thanked all those who voted for him in the Labour leadership contest – meant politicians largely stayed quiet and listened.
"I have taken part in many events around the country and had conversations with many people," Corbyn said, in an incredibly long opening question. "Many told me they thought prime minister's question time was too theatrical, that parliament was out of touch and too theatrical, and they wanted things done differently."
"I thought at my first PMQs, I would do it in a different way," he explained. "I sent out an email to thousands of people and asked them what questions they would like to put to the prime minister and I received 40,000 replies."
The end result was one of the busiest but most sedate sessions of Prime Minister's Questions in years. At one point Corbyn even thanked Cameron for promising to conduct PMQs "in a more adult way than it's been done in the past".
Just asked @David_Cameron what he thought of #PMQs he said "different.....more civilised than usual".
3. Corbyn focused on the policy areas he has pledged to prioritise, such as housing.
He said he would make housing costs one of his key issues and he stayed true to his word at PMQs.
Corbyn's second question was from a housing association worker called Steven, who was concerned that cuts to social housing rents will force his employer to shed 150 jobs by next March, leading to worse conditions for tenants. He asked: "Does the prime minister not think it's time to reconsider the question of the funding of the administration of housing as well as of course the massive gap between what is needed and what is built?"
Cameron replied by simply setting out government policy on the issue.
"It's vital though that we reform housing associations and make sure they are more efficient," he said. "Frankly, they are a part of the public sector that hasn't been through efficiencies, haven't improved their performance, and I think it's about time that they did."
4. Corbyn used two questions to focus on the status of mental health services.
The Labour leader said he had received over 1,000 letters regarding mental health provision and urged action on a "very, very serious situation across the whole country".
In reply, Cameron said it was an area where he hoped to work with Labour and could be one of "the areas where we can work together".
5. There weren't any follow-up questions.
In the past the leader of the opposition would usually choose one policy area – often something dominating the news that day – and relentlessly question the prime minister on it in the hope of catching him out and holding the government to account.
When Ed Miliband was Labour leader, if he thought that David Cameron was being evasive then he would focus in on an aspect of the prime minister's reply and push him on it in the next question. Because Corbyn chose to give all his questions to Labour supporters, there was no point where the Labour leader managed to actually demand the prime minister give a clearer answer.
6. Politicians were largely intrigued by the new approach to political debate.
The new system received a welcome from MPs on both sides of the house, including Labour MP Chuka Umunna:
#PMQs is a circus. I've long argued to abolish it and put a better alternative in its place, but it was rather refreshing today - good.
And the Conservatives' Michael Fabricant:
I thought it was a good start for #Corbyn and DC who has done so many tours around the country getting questions like these answered well.
But #PMQs cannot carry on with 'What Marge wants know is...' week after week. It also means we cannot get so many backbench Qs asked.
7. It didn't create many news headlines in the traditional sense.
Afterwards, when David Cameron's press officers turned up to take any supplementary questions from journalists there was nothing to ask them. Rather than hammering away at a story of the day, Corbyn had focused on long-running policy issues.
8. The general consensus was that Jeremy Corbyn had managed to do a good job by adopting a completely different approach.
Corbyn told the meeting of the parliamentary Labour party on Monday night that he "wouldn't be very good" at making the quips and bold statements usually expected of opposition leaders at PMQs.
So he didn't. And the end result was that he walked away unscathed, having raised the concerns of Labour members on key policy areas but without forcing David Cameron into any major concessions.