Andy Burnham emerges as Labour's bridge to northern voters

Andy Burnham’s third landslide in Greater Manchester has turned him into Labour’s most obvious political bridge to northern voters. He won 420,749 votes in May 2024, a 63.4% share on a turnout of 32.05%, a scale of support that gives him a personal mandate larger than most national figures can claim.

That mandate rests on a post that carries real power. Burnham was first elected mayor in May 2017 and re-elected in May 2021 and May 2024. As mayor, he chairs the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and serves as its eleventh member, overseeing a body made up of 10 local authorities with powers over transport, skills, employment support, planning, regeneration, policing and fire services, backed by a budget of more than £3bn. He also leads policy and reform, transport and healthy lives, giving him day-to-day influence over how the region is run.

Burnham’s appeal is not just administrative. He was the Labour MP for Leigh from 2001 to 2017 and held senior roles in government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary and Health Secretary. He also ran for Labour leader in 2010, finishing fourth in the first round with 8.7% of the vote, a reminder that his national ambitions have long been visible. In a party often defined by Westminster insiders, Burnham has cultivated a more openly northern, less managed political style that has made him one of Labour’s most popular figures.

His standing was further shaped by the Manchester Arena bombing on 22 May 2017 and the inquiry that followed, which was established in 2019. Burnham made the inquiry central to his public image, casting it as a test of how to learn lessons and improve emergency response. That period helped frame him as a leader associated with crisis management and empathy, qualities that have carried weight well beyond Greater Manchester.

With Keir Starmer under pressure over Labour’s direction and its ties to working-class voters in the North, Burnham’s name has returned to the center of the party’s most sensitive debate. His scale of support in Greater Manchester, his record in national office and his reputation outside London have made him a live force in Labour’s future, not just its past.