Chris Mason: What can we learn from Starmer’s first day as prime minister?

No doubt the novelty will wear off for them and the hard work of governing will begin. But this time, at least, they had a conscious awareness of the magnitude of this moment for them.

It is 14 years since Labour ministers walked through Downing Street.

And it’s been 27 years since the last time the Conservatives were removed from power.

A couple of hours later, Sir Keir Starmer looked comfortable, even relaxed, in the role of prime minister at his first press conference.

We American journalists were ushered into the State Dining Room at the heart of Number 10, rather than the purpose-built room at Number 9, built by the last government and associated in particular with disputes over parties during the pandemic.

These kinds of things don’t happen by accident, and who knows if this administration will use the new in-camera room in the future, but it was a visual marker of change.

Sir Keir told us his government would confront the challenges ahead with what he called “absolute honesty”.

He and his ministers have already described prisons and the NHS in England as “broken”.

How long will they be patient with them if they blame their predecessors? We’ll see.

What we will see next – and it has already been announced in advance – is a flurry of activity and travel by the Prime Minister.

It turns out that when you win a general election, the meeting, the greetings, the attentions and the smiles of the attendees do not end with a visit to the polling station.

Sir Keir will travel to Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff in the coming days and will meet mayors across England on Tuesday.

He will then fly to Washington DC for the annual summit of the NATO defence alliance.

An opportunity for the Prime Minister to meet with other world leaders and be on a stage to which only presidents and prime ministers are invited.

The following week (i.e. within the next fortnight) will be the King’s Speech – the State Opening of Parliament – ​​where the government will set out its planned new laws.

And then Keir Starmer will host around 50 European leaders at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire the following day for a meeting of what is known as the European Political Community, a new, separate body from the European Union.

A huge majority after offering “change” – coupled with low voter turnout and a smaller share of the vote than any other postwar single-party government – ​​may leave this administration little time to prove, if it can, that it can deliver on its promises.

They are determined not to waste time.