Harriet Harman raises questions of how David Cameron would deal with a female Labour leader

David Cameron seemed genuinely chastened by Harriet Harman at Prime Minister’s Questions last week, when the acting Labour leader accused him of “gloating” about the Conservative election victory. Cameron spent the rest of Wednesday’s session showering MPs from all sides of the house with love and magnanimity, putting on his glasses to look more serious and less Flashman. This exchange prompted some speculation in Labour circles about how Cameron would deal with a woman elected as Labour leader on 12 September. Would he adopt a more conciliatory tone than he had with Ed Miliband, MPs mused? Given how Cameron reacted to Harman as if she’d put a stick through the spokes of his bicycle, causing him to wobble off course, does the Prime Minister, went the argument, know how to handle other forthright women such as Yvette Cooper or Liz Kendall?