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@pwaring In America, originally the long "lame duck" period was to give the new President time to move to Washington DC. Leaving home, packing up all your things and travelling across the country was a major expedition in the 18th and 19th centuries (as Oregon Trail players know).

It's stayed mainly because of how difficult it is to amend the Constitution. It was shortened from 4 months to 2 with the 20th Amendment in 1933 (before then the President took office on March 4), before the Interstate highways were a thing, let alone air travel.

America also doesn't do the Shadow Cabinet thing. The new President needs time to put his cabinet together, and they all need time to quit their current jobs. Having a PM and Ministers who are all simultaneously MPs speeds things up a lot, because they're all already there in Westminster.