Burnham risks wrath of Commons Speaker for talking too much at PMQs
PMQs runs on a clock, and the Speaker holds the stopwatch. So a prime minister who takes noticeably longer than his predecessors to answer is gambling with the one relationship he can't afford to sour. Matt Chorley's piece suggests Burnham is doing exactly that.
The charitable reading is that he's treating the chamber seriously, giving fuller answers instead of the usual three-word dodge. That's a real virtue in an era of scripted politics. The less charitable reading is that long-windedness is its own form of evasion, eating the clock so there's no time for the follow-up that might actually pin him down. The Speaker tends to notice that.
I'd want to know whether this is a deliberate strategy or just how Burnham talks. If it's deliberate, he's betting that voters prefer substance to theatre. If it's habit, he's risking the Speaker's patience for no real gain. Either way, the Speaker has ways of making the point, and that's a confrontation no PM wants.