Election debate: reaction and analysis after Jeremy Corbyn and party leaders spar – as it happened

Here is our main story about the debate.

And here is John Crace’s sketch.

That’s all from me for tonight.

Thanks for the comments.

Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, is claiming the audience was biased against Ukip.

He also says BBC executives should be sacked because of this although, if you watch the video of him saying this on his LBC show (instead of just listening), you might detect a smile on his face as he’s saying this that suggests (at least, it did to me) that he knows he’s not really being serious at this point.

And Ukip has put out a press notice headed: “Powerful and courageous performance by Ukip leader.” It quotes the Ukip deputy leader, Peter Whittle, saying:

It’s clear that Paul Nuttall showed a resolve, courage and leadership that has been lacking from the rest of the Westminster establishment.

Paul spoke to people in Britain who are living in the real world. Unlike the others he was honest, direct, and confident about the future of Britain.

Despite a blanket of denial from the other speakers, he was prepared to talk about the real threats faced by our society. He was prepared to call out Islamic Extremism for what it is, rather than simply restate the platitudes we are so used to. He was realistic about the impact of immigration on jobs and our public services.

The Lib Dem press statement about the debate is causing much merriment.

In the wood panelled spin room of the Cambridge Union, the first drama of the night came when Labour’s Emily Thornberry burst into an interview with Tory cabinet minister Damian Green, live on BBC News.

The work and pensions secretary was among several high profile Tories, including Brexit secretary David Davis and culture secretary Karen Bradley, who paced the room, speaking to broadcasters about Amber Rudd’s performance.

But Labour sources said Thornberry had been scheduled to be on Channel 4 News with Green, until Conservatives had told Labour they did not want a two-way debate. Stood down, Thornberry decided to take matters into her own hands and join Green’s post-debate interview live on air.

Lib Dem campaign chiefs declared themselves chuffed with Tim Farron’s performance, particularly the audience gleeful reception of his final joke - that viewers should switch off for Rudd’s statement and watch Bake Off instead. “He smashed it,” one source said.

Lib Dem president Sal Brinton said Farron had needed to make an impact, given how little he was recognised by the wider public.

However, if cheers from the crowd were anything to go by, it was Corbyn who won. Labour sources said the Labour leader had deliberately held back from criticising the prime minister too incessantly for not turning up, intending instead to focus on the message of the party’s manifesto while smaller parties tore into Rudd.

“He’s the only person in that room who could be prime minister, and so he behaved like one,” a source said.

Tory sources pointed out however that the Labour leader had not mentioned Brexit in his opening or closing statements - or in his answer about leadership. “How can you start the negotiations in 11 days time and not mention the biggest issue facing this country?” one said.

Labour admitted Corbyn had not mentioned the issue, but said that was a deliberate attempt to have broad resonance. “He said we are fighting for the many not the few, we want a Brexit for the many not the few,” the source said.

This is from the BBC’s Esther Webber.

If you’re reading this, you’re a Guardian reader, and that means you featured in tonight’s debate. Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, said climate change was not just a matter for “hair-shirt, muesli-eating Guardian readers”. He said:

If it is simply for hair shirt, muesli-eating Guardian readers to solve climate change, it ain’t going to solve the problem. We’re all stuffed ... we can make ourselves energy self-sufficient in renewable energy.

The BBC’s Jeremy Vine says he found this “puzzling”.

Crikey. This is just out.

This is what political journalists and commentators are saying about the debate.

There is no real consensus, and even those who are naming a “winner” seem to concede it was not clear-cut. On this one, it’s a case of “you pays your money ....

(Or not, in the case of the Guardian online, although please do sign up to become a member if you haven’t already.)

From Sky’s Faisal Islam

From the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman

From ITV’s Robert Peston

From Sky’s Adam Boulton

From the Mirror’s Ben Glaze

From the Spectator’s James Forsyth

From the Guardian columnist Paul Mason

From BuzzFeed’s Marie Le Conte

From Reaction’s Iain Martin

From the Independent’s John Rentoul

From Rosa Prince, author of biographies of May and Corbyn

From the FT’s Jim Pickard

From the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges

Here is the Labour party’s statement about the debate. This is from a spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn.

Tonight’s debate highlighted the clear choice at this election: between a Labour party that will invest in and transform our society to build a Britain for the many, and a Conservative party that has held people back and stand only for the few.

Only Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa May will be prime minister after June 8, but tonight, in what was effectively a job interview for Number 10, only one of the two candidates bothered to turn up. Theresa May won’t even debate her opponents here in the UK, in an election she called. How on earth can she be trusted to negotiate in Europe and get the best deal for the British people?

Jeremy Corbyn clearly won the debate. He showed himself as a leader who wants to change the country for the better, to make it work for the many not just a few.

By contrast, Theresa May’s refusal to take part showed her weakness. It’s a sign of a Tory campaign which is treating the public with contempt, trying to hide from scrutiny. They showed tonight they have no answers to the challenges facing Britain and that they would make pensioners and working people worse off.

Tonight proved that Jeremy Corbyn and Labour are the only party that will build a Britain for the many not the few.

Like any content-rich political event – a party conference speech, a budget, a manifesto – a debate offers numerous potential “lines” and it can be hard to work out immediately which ones (if any?) have any lasting significance. And a seven-way debate, to use a technical term employed by the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman (see 8.44pm), is a clusterfuck. There weren’t any stand-out winners, but most attention was focused on Jeremy Corbyn and he did well. His attack on Paul Nuttall over food banks was one of the highlights of the debate – he was authentic and passionate – and increasingly the CCHQ charge that he is an implausible PM seems to look less convincing.

The other main figure on the stage tonight was Amber Rudd. In a six-against-one scenario she seemed to hold up quite credibly, and she wins the message discipline prize of the night (one derided by the media, but important nonetheless) for her constant jibes about Labour’s money tree.

As for the others, Tim Farron had some of the best soundbites of the evening, and his final line about not giving Theresa May your time, because she is not giving hers to you, was one of the best lines of the evening. Caroline Lucas (predictably) and Leanne Wood (a bit less predictably) had some outstanding moments. Their two-pronged attack on Rudd, over the Tories being in coalition with Ukip (see 8.09pm), was particularly effective, and Wood came out with the best put-down of the whole evening when she depicted Nuttall as someone who would try to divorce his wife without paying: “We all know about blokes like you.” (See 8.49am.) Angus Robertson was particularly effective when it came to challenging Nuttall on migration. And even Paul Nuttall was better than he was in last week’s debate, although, as the only leave voter on the panel, it is hard to credit how he ended up representing over 50% of the country.

There may not have been a winner, but there was a loser: May herself. Long after we have all forgotten anything that was said last night, we will remember that May did not show up. Earlier I wrote that it seemed to make sense for a PM with a lead in the polls to avoid a debate like this. (See 2.57pm.) Now I am not so sure. David Cameron managed to wriggle out of one of the debates in 2015, but it went ahead without a Conservative and they called it a “challengers’ debate”, as if that was an established constitutional norm. No one particularly noticed that Cameron had stayed at home. But when Rudd tried to answer the question about leadership by praising the abilities of someone who was not even there (see 8.51pm), May’s absence was transparent – and not particularly explicable. Perhaps voters will decide they don’t mind very much. But if May’s ratings continue to slide even further, this will inevitably be seen as a contributing factor.

Nuttall says tonight was like Groundhog Day. Ukip will always be the outsider. But it has been proven right on Brexit, on immigration, on grammar schools, and on protecting services.

Lucas says the country stands at at crossroads. One more MP from the other parties. But more Green MPs would be transformative.

Corbyn says the real choice is between a Labour government and a Conservative one. Vote Labour for the many, not the few.

Robertson says this is about the kind of country we should be. The SNP will always work with others to make the country better.

Wood says Plaid is the only party putting Wales on the agenda. But Plaid MPs will stand up for the whole of the UK. She urges people to give them the mandate to allow them to stand up for Wales.

Farron says Rudd is coming up next. The PM could not be bothered to turn up. Bake Off is coming up next. Make yourself a brew. You are not worth her time. So don’t give her yours.

Rudd says the government needs to be at its strongest to take the UK through Brexit. Only May can do that.

And thats it.

Verdicts, reaction and a summary coming up next.

This is from the Sun’s Matt Dathan.

Robertson says May is the U-turn queen. That is not the leadership we require. He says the SNP are the third party at Westminster, and provide the real opposition, he says.

Farron says May should have turned up for the debate.

He says he grew up in Preston. He saw what it meant when people were brought up in poverty.