Andy Burnham has spent the summer conducting himself in presidential style. He has communicated with the public through podcasts and social media, delivered the occasional speech, toured the country, and generally made his own weather. Today, that comes to an end as he crashes back down to parliamentary reality.

Two months ago, reports emerged that the then mayor of Manchester and candidate in the Makerfield by-election had expected to become Prime Minister after the summer, giving him time to assemble a team and develop his agenda. Keir Starmer had other ideas, leaving Downing Street faster than a tourist running for a poolside sun bed. Burnham made the most of a summer without scrutiny, but it amounted to surface-level stuff.

Parliament returns today from its summer recess, and the Burnham show will shift from a one-man band to a noisy ensemble. With MPs back at Westminster comes a degree of scrutiny the new Prime Minister will not have experienced in 17 years, dating back to when he served as Gordon Brown's health secretary before Labour's defeat in the 2010 election. He must now contend with interrogation from MPs, parliamentary games, Urgent Questions summoning his ministers, select committees and PMQs, all while steering his own legislative agenda – not least October's Budget – through parliament and through his own party. The return of PMQs in particular will put the Prime Minister on a weekly collision course with the opposition front bench, a fixture of British political life that has unsettled even experienced leaders and will offer the first sustained test of Burnham's handling under pressure.

Journalists and opposition MPs alike are eager for the cut and thrust of parliamentary life to resume, bringing with it the kind of pressure Burnham has avoided during his summer of slogans, TikToks and good vibes.

Tugendhat in from the cold and Griffith steps up

The Tory Party, a rump of its former self, is gearing up for the fight with a string of promotions. The reshuffle comes as the Conservatives seek to rebuild credibility after their defeat, and personnel choices will matter in defining how the party positions itself against a Labour government led by a prime minister who himself spent years on the party's left flank before winning the top job via a by-election. Tom Tugendhat comes in from the cold to serve as shadow foreign secretary, bringing much-needed heft and experience to the brief, while Sir Mel Stride's stint as shadow chancellor has come to an end. Stride is thoughtful and intelligent, but he is being replaced by Andrew Griffith – the only sitting MP to have held a leadership role at a FTSE100 company. For the Tories, this is a trump card. Griffith is hardworking, energetic and ideologically committed to a low-tax, pro-business agenda. He is respected in the City, and his new high-profile role will serve to highlight the government's complete lack of private sector experience.

With Burnham promising to simultaneously end "neoliberalism" and "deliver growth in every postcode," the battle to come will be as entertaining as it is consequential. How the Prime Minister reconciles those two pledges under the twin pressures of a Budget and a resurgent opposition will do much to define the parliamentary term ahead.