Burnham’s first big test comes in his beloved Manchester, as voters prepare to elect his replacement

Andy Burnham may still be learning the ropes as prime minister, but his first electoral test next week will feel far more familiar to him. The then MP for Leigh left parliament in 2017 to become the first elected mayor of Greater Manchester, winning with 63 per cent of the vote. Broadly following the model of the mayor of London, the new role was hailed “a massive moment for the North”, transferring powers from Westminster and Whitehall to its largest city region. Burnham had power over planning, housing, policing, health and transport across the 10 council areas that make up Greater Manchester – the city itself, Bury, Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. And he took the role to national prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, when his response to the government’s treatment of the region saw him hailed as “King of the North”. open image in gallery Andy Burnham’s ‘King of the North’ moniker emerged from his response to the government’s Covid lockdowns (AFP/Getty) An immensely popular figure in England’s North West, Burnham was re-elected in 2021 and won in every council ward across Greater Manchester; he followed this 2024. National coverage often incorrectly refers to Burnham’s previous role as mayor of Manchester, but there is a lot more to the Greater Manchester region than the city itself. His time as mayor saw plenty of change, defined -centre towers, as Manchester’s inner-city living standards, measured against 2010, rose more than anywhere else in the UK. The city region’s annual growth rate of 3.1 per cent, sustained over the last 10 years, means its economy has performed twice as well as that of the UK as a whole, but that growth has been focused mainly in the city itself. And places such as Oldham, Rochdale, and Wigan – where Burnham’s previous and current parliamentary seats can be found – would not necessarily thank you for referring to them as Manchester. Many from these outer boroughs would see themselves as being from Lancashire, rather than the 1970s creation of Greater Manchester, which may go some way towards explaining the 32 per cent turnout at the 2024 election. The towns and villages that make up these boroughs are largely working-class post-industrial Labour heartlands, but they are not the thriving metropolis of Manchester. In a way, the two key components of Labour’s electoral coalition are present in Greater Manchester – urban voters, and those from “left behind” areas of England.