Andy Burnham\u00a0is a political insider turned outsider who goals to be Britain\u2019s next prime minister.<\/p>\n
The 56-year-old politician presents himself as an amiable northern everyman who prefers T-shirts to a suit and tie and spends spare time playing soccer or spinning Nineties tunes during DJ battles.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also an experienced politician whose profession has taken him from high-level government jobs to the mayoralty of Greater Manchester, and now to the cusp of the prime minister\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Burnham is predicted to challenge\u00a0Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u00a0after\u00a0winning a seat in Parliament\u00a0in a special election he hailed as a \u201cturning point\u201d for U.K. politics.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Burnham was born and raised in a pocket of northwest England between Liverpool and Manchester, the son of a British Telecom engineer and a receptionist. He joined the Labour Party as a teen, attended Cambridge University and was first elected to Parliament in 2001.<\/p>\n Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n He was a lawmaker for a decade and a half, rising through the ranks under Prime Minister Tony Blair and serving in Prime Minister Gordon Brown\u2019s Cabinet between 2007 and 2010.<\/p>\n He ran twice for the leadership of the Labour Party, in 2010 and 2015, and lost badly every time, before quitting Westminster to run for Manchester mayor.<\/p>\n His tenure has seen him nicknamed the King of the North, a \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d-inspired nod each to his championing of his home region and his barely disguised political ambition.<\/p>\n Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n He gained the moniker in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he\u00a0harangued Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u00a0over what he called a \u201cLondon-centric\u201d approach to the crisis.<\/p>\n Burnham has led the Greater Manchester region since 2017, overseeing rapid regeneration for town where the Industrial Revolution was forged. The town center has boomed, with skyscrapers blooming on vacant post-industrial sites. Many residents praise him for championing town. He took a piecemeal public transport system under public control, branded it the Bee Network and improved its services.<\/p>\n He has also won praise for supporting the campaign for justice for victims of the Hillsborough disaster, when 97 Liverpool soccer fans were killed in a crush at a game in Sheffield in 1989. Years of advocacy led by victims\u2019 families exposed mistakes and wrongdoing by police \u2013 who initially spread a false narrative blaming drunken fans \u2013 and extracted\u00a0an apology\u00a0from the federal government.<\/p>\n Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Burnham is perceived to be to the political left of Starmer \u2013 an asset with Labour members \u2013 and is acknowledged as one in all the party\u2019s best communicators. The quite stiff public speaker of his earlier leadership bids has been replaced by a relaxed figure in jeans and open-necked shirts.<\/p>\n His three mayoral election victories and decisive win in Thursday\u2019s election in Makerfield, where he trounced the candidate of the anti-immigration party\u00a0Reform UK, have cemented his status as a winner. Many within the party hope he can reverse Labour\u2019s precipitous decline in popularity since Starmer won\u00a0an election landslide\u00a0two years ago.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHis nickname is inspired by \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tHe pledges to finish trickle-down economics\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n