Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

The leader of the Labour party had a "tactical win" just by showing up at tonight's debate, according to the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

She spoke to members of the audience, including Tory voters who were "frustrated" at Theresa May not attending.

In reverse, Labour voters were very pleased to see Jeremy Corbyn take to the stage.

"It is pretty clear that today, at least, Jeremy Corbyn has had a tactical win," she said. "He has been seen to seize the initiative, come along and take part.

She said it was "too early to say" how the rest of the electorate would feel after the debate.

But added that, in the spin room in Cambridge, it hadn't felt like a "wake or celebration", with none of the seven leaders having a "cringe-worthy disaster" or a "big break through moment".

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, SNP's Angus Robertson, Labour's Jeremy Corbyn, the Liberal Democrat's Tim Farron, Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood, UKIP's Paul Nuttall and the Green Party's Caroline Lucas were asked about leadership during the debate.

Watch their responses here.

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YouGov's Joe Twyman says he saw nothing in tonight's debate that will have a notable impact on the opinion polls.

He says while Theresa May got a drubbing for not showing up, it's unlikely it will make a dent in the Conservatives' ratings.

At the same time he takes the view that while Jeremy Corbyn appeared comfortable he didn't put out any real killer lines.

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The BBC's chief political correspondent Vicki Young says it was a "crowded field" with all seven parties represented, and the "sustained attack" of Conservatives' Amber Rudd perhaps shows why Theresa May was a no-show.

"The Conservatives have been in power for seven years so they have a record to defend," she says. "She was attacked about cuts to the police service, hospitals, schools, talk about food banks, pensioners, all of that from all sides.

"Her argument in defence of that was you have to make difficult decisions when you're in power, and she turned that back on the Labour party, saying about Jeremy Corbyn you are promising to put up people's taxes, you are promising to borrow more, you just want to spend and it's a magic money tree."

"That argument was central tonight - the economy."

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Green Party London Assembly Member Sian Berry heaps praise on Caroline Lucas' performance, singling out the question on arms sales and saying that this is the kind of scrutiny Green MPs would apply in Parliament.

She sees a "consensus against austerity" and the "country deciding on a different direction".

There was certainly a lot of heat.

Seven senior politicians scrapped over subjects from extremism to pensions, climate change to immigration. Heckling, jabbing and finger-pointing as they went.

There was rough and tumble too over what it takes to be a leader - Jeremy Corbyn's political ambush of Theresa May leaving her open to the accusation throughout the night that she was too scared to turn up to the debate.

But the Labour leader didn't dominate, sticking to his core themes. The Liberal Democrat Tim Farron had many of the night's punchiest lines attacking the government's record and Labour's stand on Brexit.

And whilst there was plenty of passion and genuine anger it will only be in the cool light of day that it becomes clear whether all that fury changed anybody's mind.

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Kirsty Blackman from the SNP defends her party's choice to send Angus Robertson to represent them, rather than Nicola Sturgeon, saying as their Westminster leader, he is the one that regularly holds Theresa May to account.

She praises his performance.

"He did really well tonight," she says. "He was clearly putting the Tories on the back foot, making them justify their manifesto, which is unjustifiable.

She admits the SNP is putting off the deficit and balancing the books in its own manifesto, but says it was only for "slightly longer" than the Tories, in order for the poorest in society to be prioritised.

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UKIP London Assembly Member Peter Whittle says that just because Paul Nuttall is talking about migration it "doesn't mean that he's racist" and his opponents are "trying to shut down the debate".

"Everyone just fell on him and they wonder why people disengaged from main parties."

"We were formed for Brexit, but now we move on to other things - like immigration," he adds.

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Labour's Emily Thornberry accuses the PM of "not being prepared to come out and answer questions" and instead "hiding behind the curtains at No 10".

There's a bit of a ding-dong as she charges the Tories of "arrogance" and not having a fully costed manifesto, at which Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green says Labour plans smack of "economic illiteracy".

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Baroness Brinton for the Liberal Democrats said Tim Farron "smashed it out of the park" during the debate.

"He made it absolutely clear that we are the ones providing real oppositon to the Conservatives at the moment," she said.

"If this election was being called about Brexit, Labour just handed Theresa May a blank cheque".