How long can Labour's feel-good factor last?

"He just loves being prime minister," a government insider observes.

Andy Burnham might not yet have delivered his all-important conference speech, but he has been preparing for this moment for years.

He'll lap up the inevitable whoops and cheers – not just as Labour's leader, but the kind of leader who chimes with the party's rank and file, who puts social justice at the top of his list, who is not averse to cranking up the greatest hits – whether taking a pop at Mrs Thatcher, privatisation, or the divides between north and south.

Speaking to MPs, ministers and advisers inside the party, there is no doubt whatsoever that Labour is in a much, much happier place than this time last year.

There is a very simple reason, according to one cabinet minister, fans of Sir Keir Starmer, look away now, "people like the new prime minister more than they liked the old one – that's the truth of it".

Another minister tells me: "There is no appetite for destruction – very little naysaying."

But Labour is in a position that's been all too rare for all our political parties in the last few years – there are no whispers about chucking out the leader, no-one stirring revolt.

And even those who don't like the direction of travel are labelling their opinions as a desire to be helpful, they're not trying to criticise the boss.