Jeremy Corbyn was probably not expecting a tiger or rhino to steal his thunder as he stepped up to the despatch box for his first Prime Minister’s Questions.
But the menagerie might just have done so.
By far the most memorable moment of yesterday’s joust was the prime minister’s claim a rhino at the Cotswold Wildlife Park in his constituency had been named after his daughter Nancy.
The boast came in reply to a Tory backbencher’s request for support in securing a tiger from Belgium for the Isle of Wight zoo.
“Nancy has been breeding ever since she arrived,”exclaimed Mr Cameron proudly. “I hope this tiger is also as effective.”
The exchange was a marked shift in mood from his earlier duel – if it could be called that – with the new Labour leader, who began by explaining he intends to make PMQs less “theatrical”.
He didn’t come armed with rhetoric, but instead with questions from the people – Marie, Stephen, Paul, Claire, Gail and Angela to be precise.
The lucky six’s questions had been chosen from some 40,000 sent to Mr Corbyn in answer to his call for material.
His arrival in the chamber was met with complete silence – no jeering or cheering from either side and the toing and froing with the Tory leader was ostensibly courteous.
Notably, Mr Cameron passed up the chance of a dig at the leader of the opposition’s decision not to sing the national anthem at the Battle of Britain commemoration service.
The approach suggests his plan could be to try to keep Mr Corbyn – who didn’t associate himself with the PM’s tribute to the RAF airmen at the start of proceedings – there as long as possible.
Normal service resumed at times. There were cries of “shame” from Labour as the prime minister defended the tax credit cuts.
Quick on his feet, Mr Cameron remarked: “I thought this was the new question time. I’m not sure the message has fully got home.”
But he later became the victim of his own words when – after a particularly feisty reply to the SNP’s Angus Robertson – the Moray MP jibed: “Whatever happened to the new style of PMQs?”
While the Labour leader clearly succeeded in changing the tone, it made for an easy ride for Mr Cameron.
For the most part, the London MP moved swiftly onto the next question in his list – rather than pulling apart Mr Cameron’s answer.
The end result was a platform for the PM to hail the UK Government’s record and regurgitate chunks of his party’s manifesto.