Rise, fall and coronation of 'King of the North'

Could Andy Burnham return as MP to Parliament and challenge Keir Starmer?

- By Helena Vesty

AFTER a year of whispers about Westminster - and far longer holding the title of ‘King of the North’ - Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has finally confirmed his widely-known ambition of heading back to the House of Commons. Perhaps beyond, to 10 Downing Street.

Months of speculation have led the name Burnham to be immediately followed by questions of when, not if, he would make his way back to the capital as an MP. And many a rumour has swirled that the mayor wouldn't be making a return just to sit on the backbenches - but to challenge Sir Keir Starmer's leadership.

Despite senior government ministers throwing their weight behind Starmer, Burnham has often been slow to quell those rumours and support the Prime Minister. A Prime Minister who, although somewhat mired in political missteps over the last year, achieved a landslide victory in 2024.

Some days he’s baulked about why on earth he'd go back to Westminster with its briefing and backstabbing ways. Others, a little like a man actually aiming for the top spot, he's proffered his vision for the future of Britain.

So, what started out with a Whats App group scandal could now change the course of Greater Manchester's future, as Gorton and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne announced his resignation on Thursday.

But after a lifetime in politics, Andy Burnham has shown he isn’t afraid of being the man of the moment

Burnham was born in Aintree, on the outskirts of Liverpool, to telephone engineer dad Kenneth, and receptionist mum, Eileen. The family moved to Culcheth a year after Burnham was born once his dad got a job in Manchester city centre.

After joining the Labour Party at 15, his path to politics, spelled out in his recent memoir, was through ‘the cloisters of Cambridge University and the connected world of London.