Burnham's social media makeover in Makerfield

Andy Burnham’s fingers must be aching. Between pitching to become the MP for Makerfield, continuing in his day job as the mayor of Greater Manchester and going for his regular runs, Keir Starmer’s would-be challenger has also found enough time to reply to dozens of posts on social media.

- By Alexandra Topping

Andy Burnham: 'I'm better about social media, strategic and focused'

(Andy Burnham)

Since it became clear that Burnham planned to stand as a candidate in the Makerfield byelection, allies have delighted in his snarky retorts on X as proof he is a natural, and refreshingly forthright, communicator.

When the Daily Mail ran a story claiming Burnham had staged a run before driving home he pinged back that it was “part of my regular routine”. And when the broadcaster Andrew Neil accused him of pandering to “victimhood”, he replied: “You need to get out of London, Andrew.”

It is the kind of “combative progressivism” that Luke Charters, the Labour MP for York Outer, is delighted to see, arguing that his party has to understand the mechanics of social media algorithms if they don’t want their argument to be lost.