Burnham vs Badenoch: Commons showdown

There’s big "new term" energy this week in parliament with MPs returning from summer recess for Andy Burnham’s first Prime Minister's Questions. After Burnham answered a mega 125 questions, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch lambasted the prime minister for being a “people pleaser” and a “spendthrift”. What did Burnham’s first appearance in the Commons tell us about his leadership style? And can Badenoch’s shadow cabinet reshuffle help the Tory party win back popularity? Plus, why is Green Party leader Zack Polanski standing in Keir Starmer’s old seat? Host Lucy Fisher is joined by the FT's chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley and deputy political editor Jim Pickard.  Follow Lucy @LOS_Fisher ; Robert @robertshrimsley; Jim @PickardJE Want more? Andy Burnham tries to calm bond markets as public spending fears mount Burnham seeks to protect UK farming and steel in EU reset talks Andy Burnham and Emmanuel Macron meet as Bayeux tapestry unveiled How UK-Israel relations reached their worst point in decades PMQs cannot change Andy Burnham’s political reality Andy Burnham’s summer of quietly backing away from radical pledges James Orr and the gospel of the new British right Greens leader Zach Polanski to stand in seat vacated by Keir Starmer Come and join the FT and Political Fix panelists at the FT Weekend Festival on Saturday September 5 at Kenwood House Gardens in London. To save 10 per cent on tickets, visit ft.com/festival and use the discount code FTPODCAST. You can also sign up here for Stephen Bush’s morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek views. Get 30 days free. Political Fix was presented by Lucy Fisher and produced by Persis Love. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Original music and audio mix by Breen Turner. Our broadcast engineers were Andrew Georgiades and Petros Gioumpasis. Flo Phillips is the FT’s head of audio. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.