The Andy Burnham I know – podcast

On Monday, Andy Burnham will become the UK prime minister.

The former Greater Manchester mayor has faced neither a general election nor a Labour leadership contest to get there, leaving many to wonder: who is he and what does he stand for?

Today in Focus host, and former north of England editor, Helen Pidd has watched his career for years, and talks to Burnham’s friends, colleagues and mentors to find out more.

John Mullan, his former Cambridge English professor, remembers Burnham’s fondness for the novel Middlemarch. The journalist Eleanor Mills speaks about their time co-editing the trade magazine Tankworld. The former home secretary David Blunkett, Burnham’s political mentor, defends him from the accusation that he’s a shapeshifter. The MP Rebecca Long-Bailey recalls his failed attempts to be elected as Labour leader. And Richard Leese, Burnham’s deputy mayor of Greater Manchester, reflects on what he learned running the city.