Andy Burnham
Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970 in Fazakerley, Lancashire) is a British Labour and Co-operative Party (a term used for politicians who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and Co-operative Party) politician who has been Member of Parliament for Makerfield since 19 June 2026. He served as Mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 until his return to Parliament. Prior to that, he served in the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Leigh from 2001 to 2017. During this time, he had two unsuccessful Labour leadership bids; losing in 4th place to Ed Miliband in 2010 and in 2nd place to Jeremy Corbyn in 2015. As a member of HM Government under Gordon Brown, he held several ministerial positions, including Secretary of State for Health from 2009 to 2010, having also held several junior ministerial offices under Tony Blair. In opposition, he held several shadow cabinet posts, most notably being Shadow Home Secretary from 2015 to 2016 under Corbyn.
| Andy Burnham | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former Mayor of Greater Manchester From: May 8, 2017 - 19 June 2026 | |||
| Predecessor | Tony Lloyd (interim) | ||
| Successor | Paul Dennett | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Labour | ||
| Religion | Roman Catholic (In name only) | ||
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According to Burnham, the democratically elected former President of the United States Donald Trump is unwelcome in Manchester, but Burnham welcomes investment from genocidal far-left regimes such as China.[1]
In May 2026, Burnham became the Labour and Co-op candidate for the Makerfield parliamentary by-election, which he later won.
Political views
Despite being Catholic, Burnham appears unapprehensive in supporting abortion.[2]
Andy Burnham has expressed contradictory views on the European Union. In 2016, immediately before the referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union (in which the vote to leave won), Burnham stated that a vote to leave would lead not only to the breakup of the European Union, but of the United Kingdom too. Later that year, Burnham criticised middle-class champagne socialist Labour-Remain voters who smeared those who voted Leave as uneducated or xenophobic. In 2025, Burnham appeared to support re-joining the European union, having this to say: "Long-term, I’m going to be honest, I’m going to say it, I want to rejoin it. Look, I hope in my lifetime I see this country rejoin the European Union". In May 2026, after putting himself forward for by-election in Makerfield, Burnham said during a speech in Leeds that he "respected" the Leave vote of 10 years prior, and that he would not campaign to take the UK back into the EU.[3]