Andy Burnham walked into No 10 on his first day as minister, with staff lining the hall and a Downing Street official telling them: "You can clap now." He went straight to the Cabinet Room and started work as the 59th prime minister.
Burnham and his wife were greeted by clapping staff in the hall, and he repeatedly stopped to shake hands. The Cabinet Room door was left ajar so he could walk straight in, a small but clear sign of how the new operation was meant to begin.
Burnham in No 10
The was given access to three key moments in Burnham's first week in charge: when he became Labour leader, when he walked into No 10, and on day one at No 10 North in Manchester. In the first of those, he was shown in a shiny new office and gave a half-hour interview after weeks of criticism that he had avoided tough questions.
Burnham also shared pictures of the family dog, Axel, whom he described as having "angry little man energy". The mix of public access, social media and staged behind-the-scenes moments presents a style that is more open in front of cameras than Keir Starmer's, which has left some staff wondering whether a normal prime minister's schedule can hold.
VAT and pub tax breaks
The government is also putting weight on punter-friendly announcements, including cutting VAT from energy bills and tax breaks for pubs. The funding details behind those plans were not yet clear, leaving the headline announcements ahead of the financing.
Burnham's first day therefore did two things at once: it showed a new minister moving quickly through No 10, and it left the main policy question sitting with the numbers. The next test is whether the promised VAT cut and pub relief can be matched by a payment plan that is as specific as the announcements themselves.
