Burnham faces Badenoch at first PMQs amid donation row and fiscal shortfall

Andy Burnham faced the Commons today as Prime Minister for the first time, confronting Kemi Badenoch across the despatch box in what the BBC described as a format he once called "nail biting" and "nerve wracking".

The new PM's debut drew mixed assessments. GB News called it "a plodding performance", while the Daily Mail reported he blamed Britain's current troubles on "Thatcher and Brexit" - a backward glance that prompted Badenoch to mock him for "living in the past". The Guardian's George Monbiot argued Burnham has already made a mistake that will cost him his premiership: losing his nerve over political donations. GB News separately reported he faces a fiscal shortfall running to billions.

The framing is instructive. A Prime Minister who arrived without fighting a general election - Burnham took office when his predecessor stood down - now faces the charge of governing without a mandate. "Messiah without a mandate" is how the Mail put it. The accusation isn't new: Gordon Brown heard it, Theresa May heard it, and every mid-term replacement hears it until they win or lose an election of their own. The question is whether the new occupant can make the inherited majority work long enough to earn one.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports that Keir Starmer - Burnham's predecessor - has performed a final U-turn and will stand down as an MP, with the Green Party leader poised to challenge for the seat. Watch whether Burnham calls an early election to settle the mandate question, or whether he uses the inherited term to the limit. The fiscal gap and the donation controversy suggest he may not have long to choose.