Andy Burnham

The Right Honourable Mayor
Andy Burnham
The Right Honourable Mayor Andy Burnham
	Burnham in 2016
Mayor of Greater Manchester
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 8 May 2017
Deputy	Richard Leese (2017–2021); The Baroness Hughes of Stretford (2017–2023); Paul Dennett (2021–); Kate Green (2023–);
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
Leader
Shadow Cabinet posts
Shadow Home Secretary
	In office; 13 September 2015 – 6 October 2016
Leader	Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded by	Yvette Cooper
Succeeded by	Diane Abbott
Shadow Secretary of State for Health
	In office; 7 October 2011 – 13 September 2015
Leader	Ed Miliband; Harriet Harman (acting);
Preceded by	John Healey
Succeeded by	Heidi Alexander
	In office; 11 May 2010 – 8 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman (acting); Ed Miliband;
Preceded by	Andrew Lansley
Succeeded by	John Healey
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
	In office; 8 October 2010 – 7 October 2011
Leader	Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Ed Balls
Succeeded by	Stephen Twigg
Prime Minister
Junior ministerial offices
Minister of State for Health
	In office; 5 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Jane Kennedy
Succeeded by	Ben Bradshaw
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs
	In office; 9 May 2005 – 5 May 2006
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Caroline Flint
Succeeded by	Joan Ryan
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 (age 54); Fazakerley, Liverpool, England
Political party	Labour and Co-operative
Spouse	Marie-France van Heel
Children	3
Alma mater	Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Signature
Website	GMCA / The Mayor
	Andy Burnham's voice Burnham on bus deregulation in Greater Manchester; Recorded 13 February 2017

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 Party, Burnham identifies as a socialist and as belonging to the party's soft left. 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 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.

He 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 Secretary of State for Health. In that role, he 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 of securing 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.

[Martin-1] 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.

[The_Telegraph-2] 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.

[independent.co.uk-3] "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.

[metro.co.uk-4] "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.

[news.sky.com-5] "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.

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