Andy Burnham's life from 'one of the lads' to Dutch wife and uni 'imposter'

As Andy Burnham piles the pressure on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, all eyes are on the 'King of the North' and what a country under his leadership might look like. But who is the down-to-earth Northern politician, who many hope could be our future PM?

Having served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, Mr Burnham recently refused to rule out standing to be an MP again in a bombshell interview with The Telegraph, arguing that "wholesale change" was needed to turn things around for the Labour Party.

In this same interview, the 55-year-old former Health Secretary also revealed that MPs have encouraged him to challenge Sir Keir for the top job, sharing: “People have contacted me throughout the summer – yeah. I'm not going to say to you that that hasn't happened, but as I say, it's more a decision for those people than it is for me."

With the Labour Party conference due to kick off this weekend, the future of the governing party will be the focal point - and who exactly they need to keep them in power.

Here, the Mirror takes a look at the life of current favourite Burnham, from his working-class upbringing to his struggles at Cambridge University and Westminster and his Dutch wife and their three children...

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Working-class childhood

Born in Liverpool to a BT engineer father and a GP receptionist mother, Burnham grew up in the quiet Cheshire village of Culcheth on the outskirts of Warrington. They moved after his dad landed a new job in Manchester city centre.

The working-class middle son attend a local Roman Catholic comprehensive school and was an ardent Everton FC supporter as well as a lightning-quick bowler for Lancashire Schoolboys. He loved music, including Manchester icons The Smiths, who he saw live at Salford University on The Queen Is Dead tour, and The Stone Roses.

By his own admission, Burnham struggled to combine the two sides of his personality - an academic who loved to socialise. "It was hard to be both a good student and one of the lads," he wrote in his book, Head North.

But his dad, Roy Burnham, once proudly told how they all knew their smart, sporty and popular boy was 'destined for better things'.

In a 2010 interview with The Liverpool Echo, at a time when Burnham was going for Labour party leadership, he recalled: "He has always been driven. He mixed a lot. He played a lot of sport and was popular when he was younger. But he was rigid in his studies. At a certain time in the evening, he would go and do his homework. He was rigid in that. We sort of knew early on that he was destined for better things."

It was also clear early on that a life in politics was on the cards, with the Labour 'lifer' previously telling the Mirror how he was motivated to join the party at the age of just 14 years old, after watching the BBC TV drama, Boys From The Blackstuff, which which focused on the lives of those struggling in the Thatcher era.

University struggles

The young straight-A student initially wanted to learn Spanish and become a courier, but an inspirational English teacher encouraged him to take a different path, which ultimately led to him reading English at the prestigious Cambridge University.

"I was going to do Spanish, but my English teacher got through to me. Mr Harrington, Steve Harrington, amazing man, I’m still in touch with him, a real life-changing man. He boosted my confidence at a time when I didn’t and wouldn’t have thought I could go to Cambridge," he once said.

“He particularly lifted me from a student who could have done reasonably well and gone to a decent university to somebody who achieved much more than I thought I could.”

His brothers, Nick and John, were also inspired by school and now work as teachers themselves in the Warrington area.

As proud as Burnham's family would have undoubtedly been at him being accepted to Cambridge, he has admitted that he “struggled to feel part of things”, in his book, adding: “But my growing interest in Manchester music gave me an identity and an advantage.”

Marriage and kids

It was during his studies at Cambridge that Burnham met his now wife, Marie-France van Heel. Known affectionately as Frankie, the professional marketing executive is originally from the Netherlands, and also previously lived in Belgium. She herself was from a family of football fans, and the pair quickly hit it off.

While living in a two-up, two-down near Brixton, the Burnhams welcomed their first son, Jimmy, in March 2000, but it wasn't all smooth sailing. Burnham has since admitted that they hadn't planned to start their family at that time because he "felt stability was important".

The young family made things work, however, with Burnham juggling his burgeoning parliamentary career with being a new dad. In October of that year, he and Frankie went on to tie the knot, shortly before he was selected as MP. It was at this point that they made the move back up North, where daughters Rosie and Annie were born.

Opening up about the tricky side of balancing his career with his home life, Burnham shared, "It's very hard to spend time away from the family. Partly what rooted me was that my mum and dad were always there. I just hope the dysfunctional side of the job doesn't put my children off what I do. Whatever they do, it doesn't matter, as long as they fulfil themselves as people. Although I know the family would find it easier if they came home and said they were going to vote Tory rather than that they had decided to support Liverpool..."

'Trying the Westminster thing'

Before entering politics, Burnham pursued journalism, taking up an unpaid internship at the Middleton Guardian after graduation. It was then that, once again, the differences between himself and his Cambridge classmates became apparent.

Burnham shared: "Nearly everything I do has a route into it from something that has happened to me in my life, practically all the things I’d say. And the reason I was so onto unpaid internships is for this reason. I saw people literally fly out of Cambridge into the Times, the Guardian, and I’m thinking, ‘well, where’s my Times and Guardian internship?’"

Although working for free was far from ideal, this proved to be a useful starting point for young Burnham, who went on to work for trade magazines such as Tank World and Passenger World Management. In 1994, he was hired by Labour minister Tessa Jowell as a researcher and began his political ascent.

Employment with the Transport and General Workers' Union followed. Then, after the victory of former PM Tony Blair, he held a brief parliamentary officer appointment for the NHS Confederation, as well as an administrator position for the government's Football Task Force.

In 1998, Burnham was hired as a special adviser to Culture Secretary Chris Smith, and in 2001, he was elected MP for Leigh. By 2007, he became one of the stars of Gordon Brown's cabinet, rising to become Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary and Health Secretary. During the Brown years, Burnham also made a name for himself after launching a campaign that would eventually lead to the second Hillsborough inquiry.

In 2010, he made his first bid for Labour leadership, but ultimately lost out to Ed Miliband, under whom he served as Shadow Education Secretary and Shadow Health Secretary. It was during this time that Burnham used his position to rail against cuts to the NHS.

In 2015, Burnham once again ran for Labour leadership, but ultimately came in second place behind Jeremy Corbyn. He served briefly under Corbyn as Shadow Home Secretary but ultimately bowed out in 2016 after being elected as Manchester's Mayor.

And he told the New Statesman that he struggled with the culture at Westminster. Of his early days in London, he says he was, "sort of trying to do the Westminster thing… You know, be loyal and get on."

'King of the North'

In his book, Burnham discussed the moment he and Liverpool Mayor, Steve Rotheram, decided to leave Parliament at a Westminster pub, with the intention to 'build something different from the outside' by running as mayors.

During his time in mayoral office, Burnham has regularly championed the needs of those in the North West, and has brought key services such as the buses back under public control.

Perhaps Burnhams' best-known moment came in 2020, when he stood up against Whitehall during the Covid pandemic, refusing to back down while negotiating over a financial package that would help locals during this most difficult of times.

In a stirring speech given in Manchester City Centre, which saw Burnham dubbed 'King of the North', the Mayor said: "What we've seen today is a deliberate act of levelling down. I don't believe we can proceed through this pandemic by grinding people down. We need to carry them with us, not crush their spirit."

And in the years since, Burnham has continued to push for Manchester to be recognised as the important city it is. Speaking recently with the New Statesman, Burnham discussed the rapid growth of Greater Manchester towns such as Stockport, remarking: “This country’s failure to support one of its major cities [to grow] at this scale is mind-boggling."

In this same interview, Burnham also reflected on his “Burnhamism” politics, which he described as “aspirational socialism”. Remarking, “It’s the Manchester way", Burnham emphasised the need for secure housing and affordable services, stating: “That’s what Britain had in the postwar period. We’ve got to get back to speaking to working-class ambition.”

Salary and home

According to the Institute for Government website, Burnham earns an annual salary of £114,000. He currently lives in Leigh, Greater Manchester, with his wife and three children. Although it would appear that he relishes his role as Manchester Mayor, supporters reckon he will continue to climb further still. And his vision for what a “Burnhamism” government might look like was recently outlined in his New Statesman interview.

Burnham asserted that "the old way of doing things in Westminster with minimal change" was an unattractive prospect, but that he was prepared to "work with anybody who wants to... put in place a plan to turn the country around." He explained: "I'm happy to play any role. I am ready to play any role in that. Yes. Because the threat we're facing is increasingly an existential one."

Calling for increased public control of housing, energy, water and rail, and to "get back to speaking to working-class ambition", Burnham indicated he would be willing to work alongside the Lib Dems and Jeremy Corbyn.

Regarding his own ambitions for Number 10, Burnham appeared to hint that this was still a possibility, stating: "I stood twice to be leader of the Labour Party. And I think that tells you, doesn't it?"

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com

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