Andy Burnham: Life and career of Labour's Greater Manchester Mayor as he seeks re-election for third term

Andy Burnham has been the Greater Manchester mayor for the last seven years and is currently campaigning for re-election in the upcoming May 5 polls. 

The Metro Mayor has been active in politics since he was a teenager and has spent the majority of his career in public office. As he prepares to run again, here is a whistle-stop tour of career so far. 

Early life and career

Andy Burnham was born in Aintree, Merseyside, in 1970 but grew up in Culcheth, Warrington. His mother Eileen was a receptionist and his father Kenneth was a telephone engineer. He was educated at Roman Catholic primary and secondary schools before securing a place at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he studied English. 

He was drawn to politics as a teenager, joining the Labour Party at age 15. He says his interest in politics was sparked by the miners’ strikes in the eighties. His first job after graduating, however, was not in politics but as a writer for industry publication Tank World in London. It was here that a colleague introduced him to their stepmother, the late Tessa Jowell. Burnham worked as a researcher for the Dulwich MP from 1994 until the 1997 general election. 

From there, he spent a few months working as a parliamentary officer for the NHS confederation and then a year working as an administrator for the Football Task Force. He became a special advisor to then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Chris Smith in 1998, and stayed there until he was elected as Labour MP for Leigh in 2001. 

Westminster

As a newly-elected MP Andy Burnham, aged 31, sat on the Health Select Committee for two years. He was then made a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Secretary David Blunkett, until Blunkett’s resignation over the ‘nannygate’ scandal in 2004. Burnham continued to work as a Parliamentary Private Secretary, but this time for Ruth Kelly in her role as Education Secretary. 

In 2005, he was given the tricky job of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State overseeing the controversial ID Card Act, which was given Royal Assent in 2006 and scrapped in 2011. In 2006, he was promoted to  Minister of State for Delivery and Reform at the Department of Health. 

Under Gordon Brown, Andy Burnham was first appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and then the promotions continued – first as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and then Secretary of State for Health in 2009. 

Labour leadership 

After Labour’s defeat in the May 2010 elections and Gordon Brown’s resignation as party leader, Andy Burnham threw his hat in the ring. He came fourth out of the six candidates running in the leadership race, losing out to Ed Miliband. 

The second leadership Andy Burnham participated in was in 2015. This time he came second, losing out to Jeremy Corbyn. Throughout the two leadership races since Labour 2010 election loss, Burnham continued to serve as the Shadow Health Secretary.

Mayor of Greater Manchester

Andy Burnham announced that he would be stepping down from the Shadow Cabinet in 2016 in order to run for Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017. The position of metro-mayor was created in 2014 as part of the devolution process, which moved more power from central to local governments. The first metro-mayor of Greater Manchester, Tony Lloyd, was appointed in 2015 on an interim basis before the first mayoral election in 2017. 

Labour candidate Andy Burnham won the 2017 mayoral election with 63% of the votes. He had won majority votes in all 10 Greater Manchester Boroughs. He successfully ran again in 2021, winning with 67% of the votes. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham also holds the position of Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner. 

Life outside of politics

Andy Burnham is married to Marie-France van Heel and together they have three children.  The Greater Manchester mayor is a keen sports fan and a lifelong supporter for Everton football club.

In his youth, he played for Lancashire County Cricket Club juniors. Rugby League is another one of his sporting passions. He served as the honorary chairman of Leigh Centurions and as president of the Rugby Football League.

Andy Burnham is also a music fan and has gotten behind the decks on several occasions. Most recently, he competed in his second DJ battle against his Liverpudlian counterpart Steve Rotheram, with whom he has also written a book – Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain, released in March 2024.