There was a skittish mood at prime minister's questions this week, with Conservative MPs almost hugging themselves with glee following Labour's hammering in the local elections.

An aggressive-looking Gordon Brown may not have worn the defeat on his sleeve, but it was painfully evident from the subdued Labour benches.

The Tory leadership is no doubt pursuing an anti-gloating strategy, but David Cameron has been buoyant all week - and today was no exception.

Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara began pummelling the PM by asking Brown if, as the only person in the House with experience of unseating a prime minister (perhaps unaware he shares the benches with a good chunk of Margaret Thatcher's cabinet), he would give MPs his own estimate of how long he has to go.

Brown resorted to his default strategy, one he had to use a lot this week - Labour's record on employment, poverty, investment in the health services - with a rather half-hearted cheer from his MPs after each one.

Brown welcomed the new mayor of London, Henley MP Boris Johnson, who had moved from his usual spot near the back closer to the front bench.

Cameron got to his feet to say he was sure that Brown would have a "fruitful relationship" with Johnson, allowing a Labour wag a big laugh for asking "will you?"

The best-placed barb was unlikely to puncture Cameron's mood this week, and he replied "indeed" before trying to exploit the differences between Brown and Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander over a referendum on independence.

He accused Brown of losing control of the Scottish party, while the prime minister said that all Alexander had been doing was exposing the SNP for going against their manifesto.

This incensed the SNP's MPs, with Stuart Hosie shouting it was "absolute rubbish" for some time afterwards.

Cameron tried to thread together Brown's problems over Scotland with the government's policy of releasing prisoners early to free up prison places, and post office closures.

Despite Brown's promise to "listen and lead" after last week's defeat, Cameron said he showed no leadership on the Union, and his listening exercise was just "empty words".

In a greatest hits of attacks on Brown, he went on to mention the election-that-never-was and his lack of vision.

Brown came back with some of his own tried and tested slings, saying the Tories planned £10bn of tax cuts, risked a black hole in public spending, and "no amount of slick salesmanship can obscure the fact that there is no substance in anything the Conservatives say".

Brown has been using this phrase a lot recently, so Cameron had probably prepared his effective answer: "He's got nothing to sell and he's useless at selling it."

The Tory leader then turned things unusually personal: "This is the prime minister that went on American Idol with more makeup than Barbara Cartland, he sits in Number 10 Downing Street waiting for Shakira to call, waiting for George Clooney to come to tea.

"I've got a bit of advice for him, why doesn't he give up the PR and start being the PM."

Brown could not believe former marketing man Cameron was trying to accuse him of style over substance, but he struggled to deliver an effective answer beyond saying voters faced a choice between "a Labour government that delivers and a Conservative Party that just talks".

If Brown had so far been spared his troubles over the 10p income tax, Nick Clegg obliged by quoting former home secretary Charles Clarke's call for clarity.

Clarke excelled himself in causing trouble for the government this week, being quoted by both Clegg and Cameron.

Brown said the letter from Alistair Darling to the Treasury select committee was good enough, adding dismissively "I would have thought the Liberal party would have been prepared to wait".

Clegg said this was "not good enough" and it was a "matter of principle - remember those?" Adding to the confusion over who spins and who has substance, he said: "When it comes to helping the most needy, he has got no principles and the Tories have got no policies".

Brown's responses never rose much above an aggressive insistence on Labour's economic record, and a sense of humour and lightness of touch might have done much to help.

When Tory Mark Lancaster asked him how much it cost to fill up a family car in his constituency and when he had last had to do it - a silly but crafty question to ask a prime minister, who clearly never fills up their own car - Brown took it seriously, sounding out of touch by talking about the price of a barrel of oil, before eventually plumping for £1.10 a litre.

The verdict

Gordon Brown: 4/10 - Showed dogged determination, but painfully reliant on worn-sounding lines

David Cameron: 8/10 - Merrily ran rings round Brown, occasionally stopping to punch him on the nose

Nick Clegg: 6/10 - A plague on both your houses, but where is this strategy going to lead?