Burnham is the fifth prime minister in four years – now trying to buck the trend.

At lunchtime today, England will have its fifth Prime Minister in four years.

No other sentence sums up the nature of British politics better than that.

In the year In the summer of 2022, Boris Johnson was on the way out, but still in office. Since then there have been Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.

No wonder Andy Burnham later said he was “too familiar” with this rant. His critics, inside and outside the Labor Party, argue that he has been stirring for ages, so they can allow themselves a wry smile at that.

In the post-pandemic, post-Brexit 2020s, when many feel that life is getting harder for too long, nationalism is impatient and political support is disintegrating.

A consequence of that has been the disapproval of people in government in recent years.

That’s the background. Arrival of Burnham Downing StreetJust like it was for Sir Keir Starmer 746 days ago – on another sunny July day, exactly two years ago.

That trend of unpopular governments is what Burnham is now trying to buck.

He is determined to continue his style of leadership as Mayor of Greater Manchester and hit the ground running.

The rules of the House of Commons and meetings with the King, among others, mean that he wears clothes more often than he has in recent years.

But other conventions may be more deliberately closed. I hear, for example, that he might not be nervous about his first speech as Prime Minister outside 10 Downing Street on Monday with a teacher.

I hear he’s also very interested in question-and-answer sessions with local voters — “public question time,” as one partner put it.

Burnham’s big moment comes with Sir Keir’s trip.