Chris Mason: Rishi Sunak unleashes reset of his premiership

This was an attempt by Rishi Sunak to reset, reboot, re-energise his premiership - to grab politics by the scruff of the neck.

Mr Steady is out, but Mr Serious is still there.

Usually leaders will attempt a few gags, however hopeless. Mr Sunak barely bothered, save for one line at former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's expense.

Portraying himself as the advocate of change is an audacious pitch, he being the fifth prime minister in a 13-year run of Conservative government.

A former cabinet minister rang me earlier and said: "It's a bit rich going round saying all your predecessors were crap when you haven't even got a mandate."

So what is the strategy here?

The prime minister and his senior advisers got together over the summer and realised something had to change.

They had steadied the ship of government, but still looked set to lose the next election.

Conservative MPs were - and are - contemplating defeat.

And this is what they want the change to look like: scrapping A-levels, scrapping HS2, or a big chunk of it, banning smoking for the next generation.

"Is this Rishi Sunak unleashed?" I just asked Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch.

And yes, plenty of this will force Labour to take a position.

The big question though is a simple one: will all this be enough to revitalise the prime minister's political prospects - or look like a last-minute roll of the dice?