'Andy Burnham has the public's attention - he must hold onto it when the honeymoon ends'

It's been a dream start for Andy Burnham. He pulled off a bloodless bid for the top job, avoiding a fractious leadership contest over the summer, and hit the ground running in No10 at breakneck pace. But his real win? The public are listening. Labour has seen a bounce in the polls and his actions so far seem to be landing with voters who feel he's looking at the right issues. The bitter irony for Keir Starmer is that he tried to do similar things but the public had switched off. Burnham has their attention now, and intends to use it to sear who he is in their minds before the honeymoon period ends. When I joined the PM to see the construction of nuclear submarines at Barrow-in-Furness this week, he was upbeat and fired up to get cracking. He's clearly enjoying being Prime Minister - a prize he's long coveted - and he knows what he wants to do with power. But I was struck by the tension between his style of politics and the office he now holds. He's a great communicator, and is less guarded than his predecessor, engaging earnestly with questions about what he wants to do. This can be risky, generating headlines and speculation before plans are nailed down. But the pay-off for speaking frankly is it shows he gets the issues people are worried about. As Greater Manchester Mayor, he would pick up ideas from speaking to people in the pub and on buses. Insiders joke with gentle exasperation about running on "Andy time" as he stops to talk to everyone despite the intensity of a PM's schedule. But he wants to do things his way - and that includes getting out there. He wistfully quipped to me that he's fighting a one-man battle to remain in his seat to watch Everton. The reality of being PM - and the intense security that comes with it - means this will be a tough fight. Much has been made of how normal Burnham is. It's won him fans on social media, where his team has been savvy in getting his message out. And it's true in real life. He's the same off camera as he is on it, unlike Starmer who was much warmer and more normal behind the scenes. Burnham's challenge will be holding onto this when the pressures of PM begin to weigh on him. The honeymoon will fade as he is forced to make difficult decisions over the same tangle of domestic and international problems as Starmer. But if he can keep the public's attention and convince them he is on their side, maybe he can succeed where Starmer failed.