Andy Burnham is set to come under the most intense scrutiny of his political life when Parliament returns on Tuesday. Since coming to power six weeks ago, the new prime minister has largely been free to set his own agenda. The timing of Labour's leadership contest meant he walked into Number 10 after the House of Commons began its summer break, denying MPs the chance to question him and creating what some have seen as a honeymoon period.
Burnham has embarked on what Downing Street called a "summer tour" of the UK, appeared on podcasts and announced a series of eye-catching policies, mainly aimed at tackling the cost of living. But things are about to get a lot tougher, with MPs finally getting a chance to grill the new PM when he makes a statement to Parliament on his priorities as PM. He has taken questions from MPs in the Commons before, when he was a minister in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's Labour governments.
But Tuesday will be his first appearance on the government front bench for 16 years. The team around Burnham view the start of his premiership as successful but say they will be relieved to get back to the "structure" of parliamentary politics. Burnham will know he has really arrived as PM when he makes his debut at prime minister's questions (PMQs) on Wednesday, after almost two decades of trying to get there.
A packed Commons chamber, with curveball questions, hostile opposition politicians and the biggest TV and online audience of the week will be a world away from his nine years as Mayor of Greater Manchester. One Number 10 source said Burnham's debut would be used as a "learning exercise" to discover "what works and what doesn't". The new PM is said to be keen to adopt a "tonal shift" at the weekly half-hour session and will attempt to bring more humour to the occasion.
Most prime ministers enter PMQs with a thick folder of notes covering what they hope is every conceivable question they might face. Burnham likes to speak without notes, as he did in his first speech outside Downing Street, and is thought to be considering doing the same at PMQs. His aides sound equally relaxed about the task ahead, even though the next few weeks could define his entire premiership.
One phrase being used by Burnham's inner circle to describe his approach to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and other opposition MPs is "problem solving, not point scoring". Badenoch will also have to recalibrate her approach to PMQs, with senior Tory aides saying Burnham is a "different proposition" to Sir Keir Starmer. The Tory leader was increasingly combative and sharp with Sir Keir, but a senior Tory aide says Badenoch "knows that when you get a new problem you need a new solution".
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