Two weeks after his Syria defeat, David Cameron looks less wounded than many thought

It’s two weeks since David Cameron looked rather sick in the House of Commons and Labour MPs jeered ‘resign’ following his defeat on Syria. On that night, all sorts of wild predictions were flying around about what this meant for the Prime Minister. But even some of the more sanguine commentary looked rather misplaced this week when Cameron was able to stand up at PMQs and produce a range of punchy jokes about how weak Ed Miliband was. Could a Prime Minister who had just lost a vote on a matter of war really call the leader of the opposition weak?

Cameron’s wounds have healed a little quicker than many of us thought, to the point that he is starting conference season in a reasonable position. He’s not exactly riding the crest of the wave that brought him in from the summer recess – the Syria vote pushed him off that – but neither is he thrashing about trying to keep his head above the water.