Burnham's hard launch will reassure backbenchers an election U-turn is still on the cards for Labour, writes Natasha Clark
Appearing comfortable in his position on the front bench, despite knowing few of his own MPs, the PM took two hours of questions unscripted today
Week six for Andy Burnham felt like the hard launch of the new Prime Minister as he took to the House of Commons despatch box for the first time today.
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The new PM struck an optimistic and visionary tone, setting out how he wants to give Britain the ability to believe again.
Appearing comfortable in his position on the front bench, despite knowing few of his own MPs, he took two hours of questions today from backbenchers eager to see him deliver.
For MPs who were nervous about the prospect of ousting a sitting PM, they were now able to press him on how he was going to deliver what others haven't been able to.
The 'hopey changey' stuff was front and centre - no sniff of the doom and gloom rose garden speech like we saw from Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in their first few weeks in office where they told us, it'll get worse before it gets better.
That speech, many government insiders deduced, was a huge part of where it started to go wrong for the new government, just as it begun.
Burnham appears determined to learn the lessons of Starmer - but had a small hand grenade of his predecessor's Commons resignation land with a splash just a few hours before his big debut.
And despite the huge task on his hands, he didn't seem phased by his huge in-tray - the prisons crisis, upcoming Budget and first conference speech coming up fast in the rear-view mirror.
He also announced he'll attend COP next month, head off to the UN, and set out a 10 year plan towards the end of the year.
Making Ukraine a top priority will also take up time in his schedule as President Zelensky urges him to press other allies for help to see out a difficult winter.
Throw in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election and the Iran war starting to bite, and he's facing a very busy autumn.
Despite not addressing the Commons - minus his Hillsborough Law speech last month - in nine years, the PM appeared at ease and comfortable during his first grilling.
His backbenchers will still have their private concerns about their chances of winning the next election, but today they will be kicking off the autumn term with a bit of hope that they may be able to turn things around.
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Natasha Clark is LBC's Political Editor.LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.
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