As the Labour civil war continues to rage, all eyes turn towards Andy Burnham. The Manchester Mayor could soon be vying for the top job for the third time. In a white-knuckle week at Westminster, Burnham is planning a return to the halls of power.
Almost 100 Labour MPs have called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to make way for a new leader. The most crushing blow came from Wes Streeting, who stepped down as Health Secretary on Thursday. Starmer fights on, but it is clear blood has been scented. Now, another contender has made intentions clear: the 'King of the North' himself, Andy Burnham.
Modest Upbringing
Born in Liverpool to a BT engineer father and a GP receptionist mother, Burnham's family moved after his dad landed a new job in Manchester. He grew up in the quiet Cheshire village of Culcheth on the outskirts of Warrington, attending St Lewis Catholic Primary School and St Aelred's Roman Catholic High School in Newton-le-Willows. An ardent Everton FC supporter, the sporty middle son also showed promise as a bowler for Lancashire Schoolboys. Music was another passion, especially The Smiths and The Stone Roses.
In his 2024 book, Burnham reflected: "It was hard to be both a good student and one of the lads." But his proud dad Roy always knew his clever son was "destined for better things." Speaking with The Liverpool Echo in 2010, Roy said: "He has always been driven. He mixed a lot. He played a lot of sport and was popular when he was younger. But he was rigid in his studies." Even as a teenager, Burnham showed a keen interest in politics, joining the Labour Party at age 14 after watching the BBC drama Boys From The Blackstuff.
University Struggles
A straight-A student, Burnham initially considered studying Spanish but took a different turn thanks to an inspirational English teacher. "Steve Harrington, amazing man, I'm still in touch with him. He boosted my confidence at a time when I didn't and wouldn't have thought I could go to Cambridge," he said. His brothers, Nick and John, both work as teachers in the Warrington area. As proud as his family was of his Cambridge acceptance, Burnham "struggled to feel part of things" as a student, adding: "But my growing interest in Manchester music gave me an identity and an advantage."
Blind Date Wife
During his studies at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, Burnham met his wife, Marie-France van Heel, known as Frankie. A professional marketing executive originally from the Netherlands, she came from a family of football fans. In the early days of their courtship, Frankie asked Burnham's permission to appear on the iconic Saturday night dating show Blind Date. Thankfully for Burnham, she did not hit it off with 'Will from Surrey' on their awkward, argument-filled date to Gibraltar. By the time they returned to the studio, Frankie was so fed up with Will, who called her a 'cold fish', that she threw a cushion at him.
While living in a two-up, two-down near Brixton, the Burnhams welcomed their first son, Jimmy, in March 2000. Burnham has since admitted they had not planned to start their family at that time because he "felt stability was important." In October 2000, they married shortly before he was selected as MP. They moved back up North, where daughters Rosie and Annie were born. Opening up about balancing career and home life, Burnham shared: "It's very hard to spend time away from the family. Partly what rooted me was that my mum and dad were always there." Frankie is now Chief Customer Officer for the electric vehicle charging company Be.EV.
Rise and Bids for Leadership
Like many politicians, Burnham initially pursued journalism, taking an unpaid internship at the Middleton Guardian after graduation. He went on to work for trade magazines such as Tank World and Passenger World Management. In 1994, he was hired by Labour minister Tessa Jowell as a researcher, kickstarting his political ascent. Employment with the Transport and General Workers' Union followed. After Tony Blair's victory, he held a parliamentary officer role at the NHS Confederation and an administrator position on the government's Football Task Force.
In 1998, Burnham was hired as a special adviser to Culture Secretary Chris Smith, and in 2001, he was elected MP for Leigh. By 2007, he had become one of the stars of Gordon Brown's cabinet, rising to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary, and Health Secretary. During the Brown years, Burnham also launched a campaign that would eventually lead to the second Hillsborough inquiry.
In 2010, he made his first bid for Labour leadership but lost to Ed Miliband, under whom he served as Shadow Education Secretary and Shadow Health Secretary. In 2015, he ran again but came second behind Jeremy Corbyn with 19 per cent of the vote. He served briefly under Corbyn as Shadow Home Secretary but bowed out in 2016 after being elected as Manchester's Mayor. The two unsuccessful bids have not put him off. In May 2021, he suggested he was still considering the possibility, adding that Labour should "get in touch" if it "ever to feel it needed me."
Voting Record
According to They Work For You, Burnham has generally voted against reducing central government funding of local government and almost always voted against greater restrictions on campaigning by third parties. On social issues, he has almost always voted for measures that increased LGBT+ rights and social equality, and consistently voted for the hunting ban. On foreign affairs, he has consistently voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system, consistently voted for the Iraq war, and consistently voted against investigations into the Iraq war. On education, he voted a mixture for and against university tuition fees and voted against raising the undergraduate tuition fee cap to £9,000 per year in 2010.
Speeding Fine
In March 2023, Burnham was fined £2,000 for speeding after admitting to driving at 78 mph on a stretch of the M62 with a 40 mph limit. In a statement, he accepted he had been "going too fast," asserting that he was not aware of the variable speed limit. He said: "If I had been aware, I would not have been travelling at that speed. That said, I acknowledge that, at 78 mph, I was going too fast and accept the court's decision."
'King of the North'
As detailed in his book, disillusioned Burnham and Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram decided to leave Parliament at a Westminster pub, hoping to "build something different from the outside" as mayors. During his time in office, Burnham has championed the needs of the North West and brought key services such as buses back under public control. After three years, he had almost halved rough sleeping, encouraging local stars and footballers to donate while giving 15 per cent of his annual salary to his homelessness fund. He also heads out regularly to count rough sleepers.
One of Burnham's best-known moments came in 2020 when he stood up to Whitehall during the Covid pandemic, refusing to back down while negotiating a financial package for locals. In a rousing speech in Manchester City Centre, which earned him the nickname 'King of the North', he said: "What we've seen today is a deliberate act of levelling down. I don't believe we can proceed through this pandemic by grinding people down. We need to carry them with us, not crush their spirit." Speaking with The Guardian, Burnham said the speech had been "bewildering," while his daughters dealt with rumours about him wearing mascara or hair dye and being a 'sex symbol'. He said: "I just want all that stuff to pass."
In the years since, Burnham has continued to push for Manchester's recognition. Speaking with the New Statesman, he discussed the rapid growth of Greater Manchester towns such as Stockport, saying: "This country's failure to support one of its major cities [to grow] at this scale is mind-boggling." He also reflected on his "Burnhamism" politics, described as "aspirational socialism," stressing the need for secure housing and affordable services.
Salary and Home
According to a Greater Manchester Combined Authority report published in 2024, Burnham earns an annual salary of £118,267 as mayor. As of April 2024, the PM is entitled to a gross annual salary of £172,153. For now, the Burnham family resides in Leigh, Greater Manchester, with his wife and three children.
We are starting to get ideas of what a "Burnhamism" government might look like. In his 2025 New Statesman interview, Burnham asserted that "the old way of doing things in Westminster with minimal change" was unattractive but that he was prepared to "work with anybody who wants to put in place a plan to turn the country around." He called for increased public control of housing, energy, water, and rail, and to "get back to speaking to working-class ambition." He also indicated willingness to work alongside the Lib Dems and Jeremy Corbyn.
Blocked from Running
Earlier this year, Burnham applied to stand as Labour's candidate in the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election but was blocked in an 8–1 vote by the Labour Party's National Executive Committee, which includes Starmer. Labour said the denial was to "avoid an unnecessary mayoral election." Green Party's Hannah Spencer took the seat. Expressing disappointment, Burnham said: "The fact that the media was informed of the NEC decision before I was tells you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days." Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner this week expressed the view that blocking Burnham had been a "mistake," while clarifying she did not endorse him as a leadership candidate.
