Andy Burnham: Labour Saviour or Unknown Appointee?

By Gavin Murphy

With the resignation of Keir Starmer only two years after Labour’s historic electoral victory in the 2024 general election, the keys to Downing Street have seemingly been left at the feet of former mayor of Manchester, now MP for Makerfield Andy Burnham. Being welcomed into Westminster this week to a round of applause and a sponsorship by former Labor leader hopeful Wes Streeting, the road to no. 10 is seemingly clear for Burnham but who is our potential 7th Prime Minister in the last decade, where has he come from, and where might he try to steer the UK.

Born on the 7th of January 1970, Andrew Murray Burnham was raised in Culcheth, Lancashire and would go on to study English at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Burnham has spent much of his life involved in Labor politics, having joined the party at 15 and being first elected as an MP in 2001 for Leigh in Greater Manchester.

Burnham has been a key player in the Labor party since the premiership of Tony Blair, having served as the Culture Secretary and then as Health Secretary under Gordon Brown. The current leadership contest within the party is far from Burnham’s first, having come fourth out of five candidates following the 2010 General Election which saw Ed Miliband’s rise to power, and after 2015 came second only to Jeremy Corbyn in the resulting leadership contest. It was following this that Burnham stood down as an MP to run as Labor’s candidate for the 2017 mayoral election in Greater Manchester and was subsequently re-elected in 2021 and 2024.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham has proven popular with many of his constituents, maintaining roughly two-thirds of the vote between his initial 2017 campaign and his 2024 re-election. [1] During his mayorship, Burnham’s largest success was undoubtedly his public transportation policy with the creation of the Bee Network. This scheme would see the renationalisation of bus routes and a cap of bus fares at £2 while nationwide they were rising. [2] Now as an MP and favourite for PM, Burnham has voiced his support for increased devolution to local authorities and the cutting of rates for small businesses, as well as advocating for net zero programmes. [3]

These new yellow busses have become tied to Burnham’s success as mayor, as well as his focus on ‘Manchesterism’. Burnham’s mayorship saw the successful administering of the ‘housing investments loan fund’ (HILF) which allowed for the construction of more affordable housing in Greater Manchester, cementing it as the UK’s fastest growing sub-regional economy. [4] This success has seen the HILF’s 10-year lifespan extended with 30 new projects already being greenlit for construction.

Nearly a decade outside of Labor party leadership has allowed Andy Burnham to separate himself from the controversies of Starmer’s government from the backlash over the abolition of the Winter fuel payment to the more recent scandal over the PM’s knowledge of his US Ambassador Peter Mandelson’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

This and his mayoral successes have led to Burnham polling well with many Labor voters. YouGov’s most recent polling has suggested that he is in fact not just Labor’s currently most popular politician but also the most popular political figure in the country, having risen in popularity by 35 points while Reform’s Nigel Farage has dropped by 29. [5]

However, Burnham has not been immune to controversy himself. He has faced criticism from several figures for giving up his mayoral seat well before his term’s ending to run for Parliament and subsequently Prime Minister.

Most prominent of these is Count Binface, a well experienced, if eccentric candidate who criticised Burnham’s decision to run, telling Sky News that “I believe elected mayors should serve out their terms before they’re eligible to stand for parliament.” [6]

Additionally, Burnham has sponsored many progressive economic policies in contrast to Starmer’s largely centrist stance, such as public ownership of essential services and has even in the past stated that he expects Britain to return to the EU7 within our lifetimes although he has since promised not to “re-run” Brexit arguments. [8]

This, however, contrasts with Burnham’s record on Israel which our now former PM has faced severe criticism over, from his hesitancy to recognise a Palestinian state to the brutal crackdown on Palestine Action activists, labelling them as terrorists despite a record of peaceful protest. Andy Burnham, in comparison has had a mixed record on the conflict, having pledged during the 2015 leadership contest to make Israel his first visit overseas, describing the state as “a democracy with a long history of protecting minorities and advancing civil rights.” [9]

However, since then Burnham has become more critical of Israel, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for the recognition of a Palestinian state far in advance of Keir Starmer. Although, Burnham has yet to recognise the actions of Israel in Gaza as a geocide, telling the Guardian earlier this month that “I can’t judge things of that enormity…But I do have concerns about the disproportionate nature of what has happened in terms of the destruction.” [10]

While there is much we can gleam from Andy Burnham’s political record, there is in fact much uncertainty about our most likely future Prime Minister. Burnham has opposed the idea of announcing a snap election, meaning he will likely serve the remainder of Starmer’s term as Prime Minister, but how much an Andy Burnham premiership will resemble that of his predecessor and whether he will even survive until the next general election remain as uncertain as the rest of contemporary British politics.

References

1 “Previous Mayoral Election Results,” 2024, Greater Manchester Elects, https://www.gmelects.org.uk/elections/previous-greater-manchester-combined-authority-mayoral-election-results/

2 Dann, Amy. 2026. “Andy Burnham: What Has Made the King of the North so Popular?” University of Liverpool News, May 20, 2026. https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2026/05/20/andy-burnham-what-has-made-the-king-of-the-north-so-popular/

3 Weakley, Kirsty, 2026, “What Burnham Could Mean for Local Government,” Local Government Chronicle (LGC), June 19, 2026. https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/devolution-and-economic-growth/what-burnham-could-mean-for-local-government-19-06-2026/

4 Economic Growth in Greater Manchester, 2026, GMCA, https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/media/dwen3ltn/ifs-gm-economic-growth-paper-web-final-accessible.pdf

5 “Andy Burnham Popularity & Fame | YouGov,” 2026, Yougov.com, https://yougov.com/en-gb/topics/public_figure/Andy_Burnham

6 Craig, Jon, 2026, Makerfield: Count Binface Tells Sky News He’d Be “Happy with One Vote.” Sky News. https://news.sky.com/video/makerfield-count-binface-tells-sky-news-hed-be-happy-with-one-vote-13555593

7 Crerar, Pippa, 2026, “‘I Wouldn’t Flinch’: Burnham on Social Care, Markets, Brexit – and the Prospect of a General Election,” The Guardian, June 4, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/04/i-wouldnt-flinch-burnham-on-social-care-markets-brexit-and-the-prospect-of-a-general-election

8 Wheeler, Richard, and Kate Whannel. 2026, “Andy Burnham Pledges Not to ‘Re-Run’ Brexit Arguments,” BBC News, May 18, 2026. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx21en4807wo

9 Ynet, 2026, “Andy Burnham Nears UK Premiership as Israel Record Comes under Scrutiny,” Ynetglobal, June 22, 2026. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkgolciggg#google_vignette

10 Crerar, Pippa, 2026, “‘I Wouldn’t Flinch’: Burnham on Social Care, Markets, Brexit – and the Prospect of a General Election,” The Guardian, June 4, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/04/i-wouldnt-flinch-burnham-on-social-care-markets-brexit-and-the-prospect-of-a-general-election