Labour’s new leader, and presumptive prime minister, Andy Burnham, looks set to enter Downing Street.
He first entered parliament in the 2001 general election for Leigh, a safe Labour seat, after a career as a special adviser. His last role before entering parliament as a special adviser to the culture secretary, Chris Smith, before he was elected MP.
After a stint as a backbencher, Burnham started as a junior minister in the home office immediately after the 2005 general election, before moving to the health department and then becoming chief secretary to the Treasury in 2007.
His first cabinet position came in 2008 under PM Gordon Brown as culture secretary and then health secretary before Labour were sent into opposition.
Shadow frontbench
Under Ed Miliband he served as shadow health secretary, and then as shadow home secretary under Jeremy Corbyn.
However, in 2017, he sought the newly created Greater Manchester mayoralty as Labour’s candidate, winning with 63.4% of the vote.
Burnham stepped down as Leigh MP at the 2017 general election, succeeded by ally Jo Platt, in order to focus on his Greater Manchester mayoralty, having only won two weeks before the country went to the polls. His seat was later won by the Conservative Party at the 2019 election, returning to Labour in 2024.
“This is the dawn of a new era, not just for this city region but for politics in our country. It has been too London-centric for too long. The old political and party structures haven't delivered for all people and for all places,” he said during his victory speech.
He has since been re-elected mayor twice, winning with over 60% of the vote on each occasion. In 2024, one of the candidates he defeated was Hannah Spencer. Spencer later went on to win the Gorton and Denton by-election for the Green Party, a by-election that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer blocked Burnham from standing in.
Greater Manchester Mayor
During his time as mayor, Burnham introduced the ‘Bee Network’ which integrates the various transport services within Greater Manchester and uses Manchester’s bee symbol as its motif as the city of industry and workers.
Greater Manchester’s international strategy, launched by Burnham’s office alongside leader of Stockport Council Elise Wilson and CEO of the Manchester Growth Company Lou Cordwell, included plans to “improve the export propensity” of North West businesses and included a dedicated Greater Manchester Export Plan.
During a Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade roundtable the Mayor attended, he set out the export plan’s vision, and fielded questions from our members based in the North West.
Greater Manchester also entered into a scheme with central government to boost SMEs exporting. At the partnerships launch, the then-mayor said:
“To realise our wider regional and national growth ambitions, we need to ensure small businesses to have the right tools and support to make the most of the opportunities in new international markets. “
His stated policy of more regional economic development also includes more involvement from local bodies in various parts of policy, including trade.
He was also a major figure in various trade missions India, Japan and the US cities of Austin and Raleigh to name a few. His visits to the US occurred after the UK signed a series of regional trade deals with American states, with the visit to North Carolina involving a push to boost trade in life sciences.
“Greater Manchester is proud to be leading the UK’s first city-region trade mission to North Carolina as part of the deal struck by Government last year,” he said before the trip to Raleigh.
UK's Trade Commissioner Harjinder Kang told India’s Economic Times that Burnham was likely to remain “pro-India” when he becomes PM, partly as a result of the former mayor’s promotion activities as part of the Manchester India Partnership (MIP).
Trade policy
When the Chartered Institute celebrated its 90th anniversary last year, Burnham told our members and staff that their work was “vital in bolstering the strength regional economies such as Greater Manchester.”
“International trade in its purest form makes our society more prosperous and more just.”
In the run up to him entering Downing Street, Burnham has made a number of key declarations on international trade and foreign policy.
In a recent op-ed with the Times, he said he wanted an “even closer” relationship with Europe and would consolidate his predecessors work on rebuilding relations with Europe. During the Makerfield by-election, he said he could see the UK rejoining the EU in his lifetime but ruled out an immediate return to the customs union or single market.
On a potential relationship with Trump, Burnham insisted that “Our relationship with the US will remain critical as our most important defence and security ally.”
He also signalled a change to Starmer’s position on Israel/Palestine, promising look at “further sanctions both on those involved in the violence in Gaza and to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements”. Burnham also said that he supported the current measures on export licences to Israel.
Personal
Burnham is married to Dutch marketing executive Marie-France van Heel since 2000 and has three children.
Born in Aintree, a suburb of Liverpool, he is also a fan of Everton FC and is said to be a keen runner.
Burnham played on the famous Demon Eyes FC as a centre-forward, a football team consisting of Labour Party staffers named after a Conservative Party attack poster that also included David Miliband, Ed Balls and Tim Allan.
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