Burnham's PMQs debut shows the challenge of delivering new style of politics

Andy Burnham's first Prime Minister's Questions saw him attempt to cultivate a new style of communicating with the public through social media videos.

Despite his promises, the exchange slipped into familiar territory of trading barbs between Burnham and Kemi Badenoch over tax and borrowing costs.

Burnham took his place in the House of Commons chamber to raucous cheers from the packed Labour benches and struck a confident tone from the start.

His initial exchanges with Badenoch were vaguely jocular, but soon slipped into more familiar territory, trading barbs over tax and borrowing costs.

Burnham pointed to his early actions in office, cutting VAT on domestic electricity bills and business rates for pubs and music venues as a sign of his priorities.

However, Badenoch disagreed, pointing instead to high taxes and spending as constraints on economic growth.

The backdrop to his first few days as prime minister with Westminster in full swing has been the increased cost of borrowing – a global trend but one to which the UK is exposed and which looks likely to limit the chancellor's room for manoeuvre at the budget come the end of October.

Burnham has promised a transformational government but he's facing many of the same challenges as Sir Keir Starmer, with difficult decisions on defence spending, welfare and social care – to name just a few – hurtling towards him.

These are the pressure points his political opponents will seek to exploit, as evidenced by Badenoch's approach at Prime Minister's Questions when she quizzed him over plans for taxes, spending and borrowing.

Today's Prime Minister's Questions is a taste of what's to come.

As well as smart communications, the choices the prime minister makes against a tricky economic background will take careful navigation if he's to deliver the optimistic future he's promised.