King of the North to Prime Minister?

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has gambled his political career by winning the Makerfield by-election and making a possible bid to become the next Prime Minister.

But who is Burnham, 56, and how did he get here?

In a special episode of Northern Spinco-hosts Chris Maguire and Frank McKenna introduce the man who wants to be the next Prime Minister.

The man described as the King in the North was born in Liverpool in 1970 and was one of three brothers.

He was inspired to join the Labor Party at the age of 14 after watching the BBC television series. The Blackstuff Boysabout life on the dole in Liverpool.

Burnham studied English at Cambridge, where he met his future wife, Marie-France van Heel, known as Frankie.

The couple married in 2000 and have three children.

Known for his love of music, he is a big fan of northern bands such as The Smiths and The Stone Roses.

According to McKenna, he was always destined to become a politician and got his first chance when he landed a job as a researcher for the late MP Tessa Jowell.

In 2001 he became MP for Leigh in Greater Manchester, running twice for the Labor leadership in 2010 and 2015, losing to Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn respectively.

One of his notable moments came when he attended the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in 2009 as the then Sports Minister and was interrupted by the crowd with chants of “Justice for the 96”.

Hillsborough was a defining moment

Burnham went on to play a crucial role in securing justice for the Hillsborough victims and McKenna told the Northern Spin podcast: “He demonstrated three things that day: empathy, intuition and courage. »

In 2016 he announced his intention to become mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017 after becoming disillusioned with the Westminster bubble and Brexit.

He went on to score an impressive 63 per cent of the vote and even made a cheeky dig at his good friend Steve Rotheram, who became mayor of Liverpool with 59 per cent of the vote.

Burnham said he wanted to do politics differently and donated 15 percent of his salary to the fight against homelessness.

Just weeks after his election, the city was rocked by the Manchester Arena bombing and Burnham told the world: “After our darkest nights, Manchester wakes today to its most difficult dawn. »

Maguire, who interviewed Burnham on numerous occasions, said: “Burnham is the master of communication. He is always most at ease speaking to the audience. That’s when he comes alive.”

Famous for turning up to events at the last minute, he spoke at BusinessCloud’s inaugural Northern Leaders Awards in January 2025, inspired by the late Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, Sir Howard Bernstein.

He declared that “Northerners cannot be treated as second-class citizens” and delivered an impassioned, impromptu speech to the audience.

In 2020 he wore his navy worker’s jacket when he told Boris Johnson’s Conservative government that Greater Manchester would no longer accept crippling Covid restrictions.

Burnham told the Northern Spin podcast in 2023 that one of his proudest achievements was the Bee Network and his biggest frustration was the removal of the Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone.

A lifelong Everton fan, he supported a campaign led by former player Trevor Steven to raise awareness of mental health issues and high suicide rates among construction workers in the UK.

On the wall of his office in Manchester, Burnham has a quote from a resident called Jo Barker-Marsh, who he met while campaigning for debt justice in Harpurhey.

It reads: “Never stop fighting for change. This is your debt to us. This should be the price of your power, which you never give up.”

It was against this backdrop that Burnham took the biggest political gamble of his career by deciding to stand in the Makerfield by-election on June 18.

Win and he’s the hot favorite to become the next prime minister, but lose and he finds himself facing a political wilderness.

You can listen to the latest episode of Northern Spin here.