Burnham’s opponents are having to recalibrate and work through how they take on a new prime minister.<\/p>\n
The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s al fresco speech and news conference on a rooftop in central London on Thursday<\/a> was a tacit acknowledgement that the political terms of trade have changed.<\/p>\n She teased the new prime minister over his informal style \u2013 he “seems like a nice guy\u2026I’m glad he’s got a sense of humour,” she told us, before getting to the essence of her critique, that his offer was superficial, and thin.<\/p>\n “Is that it?” she asked, adding: “He is behaving like he’s still the mayor of Manchester. He is now the prime minister of the United Kingdom.”<\/p>\n Burnham wants to project a sense that he gets it – the cost of living pressures so many feel so acutely – and he is getting a move on.<\/p>\n But in just these first few days there has been a reminder that life comes at you fast as prime minister.<\/p>\n Firstly, on the domestic front \u2013 his intervention on the early release of prisoners in England and Wales, demanding what he calls a “pause”, is a case study in the dilemmas of governing: crowded prisons and, so, difficult choices between least worst options \u2013 which criminals to free first.<\/p>\n Secondly, on the international front \u2013 after Burnham renewed America’s permission to use British airbases for what are called “defensive” strikes on Iran, Tehran is claiming those bases are now legitimate targets. And, with the conflict in the Middle East escalating, the oil price is spiking again<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then there are the huge questions that tumble from Burnham’s big promises.<\/p>\n He has pledged, for instance, “the biggest council house building programme since the post war period.” How would this be paid for? And what does the promise actually mean?<\/p>\n