Andy Burnham | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Burnham in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayor of Greater Manchester | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 8 May 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy |
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| Preceded by | Tony Lloyd (interim) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Health | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alan Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Andrew Lansley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 24 January 2008 – 5 June 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | James Purnell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Ben Bradshaw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 28 June 2007 – 24 January 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stephen Timms | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Yvette Cooper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament for Leigh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 7 June 2001 – 3 May 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Lawrence Cunliffe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jo Platt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Andrew Murray Burnham 7 January 1970 Fazakerley, Liverpool, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour and Co-operative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Marie-France van Heel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | St Aelred's Catholic High School University of Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Health Secretary from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party, Burnham identifies as a socialist and as belonging to the party's soft left. He once identified as being on the Blairite wing of the party. He served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2015 to 2016 and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Leigh from 2001 to 2017.
Born in the Old Roan area of Aintree, Burnham was educated at St Aelred's Catholic High School in Newton-le-Willows and graduated with a degree in English from the University of Cambridge where he was an undergraduate student at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He worked as a researcher for Tessa Jowell from 1994 to 1997, then worked for the NHS Confederation in 1997 and as an administrator for the Football Task Force in 1998. He was a special adviser to Culture Secretary Chris Smith from 1998 to 2001. Following the retirement of Lawrence Cunliffe, the Labour MP for Leigh, Burnham was elected to succeed him in 2001.
Burnham served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary from 2003 to 2005. He was promoted by Prime Minister Tony Blair to serve in his government after the 2005 election as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department. In 2006, Burnham was reshuffled to become Minister of State for Health. When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, Burnham was promoted to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, a position he held until 2008, when he became Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. In 2009, he was promoted again to become Health Secretary. In that role, he responded to the swine flu pandemic, opposed further privatisation of National Health Service services and launched an independent inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal. Following the Labour Party's defeat in the 2010 general election, Burnham was a candidate in the 2010 Labour leadership election, coming fourth out of five candidates. The contest was won by Ed Miliband. Burnham served as Shadow Secretary of State for Health until late 2010, when he was moved by Miliband to become Shadow Secretary of State for Education. He held that role for a year, then returning to the role of Shadow Health Secretary.
Following Miliband's resignation as Labour leader due to the 2015 general election defeat, Burnham launched his campaign to succeed Miliband in the resulting September 2015 leadership election. He finished a distant second behind Jeremy Corbyn, after which he accepted a role in Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Home Secretary. After being selected as Labour's candidate for the new Greater Manchester Mayoralty, Burnham stood down as Shadow Home Secretary in 2016 and as an MP at the 2017 general election. Burnham won the 2017 mayoral election, was re-elected in the delayed election held in May 2021, and elected for a third time in the 2024 election. For his role campaigning to secure more money for local Northern communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was dubbed the "King of the North" by the media.[1][2][3][4][5]
- ^ Martin, Iain. "Andy Burnham: Is the 'king of the north' unprincipled or the real deal?". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ Diver, Tony; Neilan, Catherine (20 October 2020). "Manchester moved to Tier 3 as Andy Burnham warns country will fracture". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "How did Andy Burnham reinvent himself as king of the north?". The Independent. 10 October 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "Londoners follow Leeds and Manchester by braving cold for first night in tier 2". Metro. 18 October 2020. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "Coronavirus: Andy Burnham is the 'King of the North' – a crown the PM believed he'd won". Sky News. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.