Burnham's PMQ Verbosity Draws Scrutiny from Commons Speaker

The atmosphere in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions has taken on a new rhythm under Andy Burnham. Just three months into his tenure as Prime Minister, Burnham is already testing the patience of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle due to the length of his responses from the despatch box. During Burnham's initial sessions, Sir Lindsay made multiple public appeals urging the Prime Minister to speed up his replies so that more Members of Parliament could have the opportunity to participate.

An analysis comparing Burnham's performance with former prime ministers reveals a marked quantitative difference in style. Across his early sessions, Burnham averaged approximately 22 minutes of total speaking time per PMQs session. By comparison, previous prime ministers including Sir Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, and Boris Johnson spent notably less total time speaking during comparable autumn sessions.

When examining individual response durations, the contrast becomes even sharper. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss recorded the briefest average answer length at 33 seconds, followed closely by Boris Johnson at 35 seconds, Sir Keir Starmer at 38 seconds, and Rishi Sunak at 39 seconds. Burnham stands out as a clear outlier, averaging 51 seconds per response. This represents roughly a third more speaking time per question than Starmer or Sunak, and over fifty percent more time than Truss.

The official schedule for PMQs allocates 30 minutes starting at noon on Wednesdays when Parliament is in session. However, due to extended exchanges, the proceedings regularly run over by 10 to 20 minutes. Speaker Hoyle noted that while he appreciates detailed answers, prolonged responses directly restrict backbench MPs from raising constituency concerns.

Downing Street has pushed back against suggestions of inefficiency or parliamentary discourtesy. A senior Number 10 official defended the Prime Minister's approach, arguing that Burnham takes longer simply because he focuses on directly answering the queries posed to him rather than relying on brief rhetorical brush-offs. The ongoing debate highlights the delicate balance between detailed parliamentary accountability and the strict time constraints of the Commons.