Revealed: Andy Burnham accepted £12,000 tickets and hospitality in two years as PM’s rival is dragged into Labour freebies row

Andy Burnham has become the latest senior Labour politician to admit accepting lavish freebies after it emerged he received tickets and hospitality worth a staggering £12,000 in just two years.

In response, the Tories said the £118,267-a-year Greater Manchester mayor – who last month made a dramatic bid to topple Sir Keir Starmer – should focus on justifying accepting the gifts rather than angling to oust the PM.

Mr Burnham has enjoyed concert tickets worth over £1,300 as well as trips to major sporting events worth nearly £700 in the past 12 months.

He also accepted tickets and accommodation to the Glastonbury Festival worth over £3,000 and sporting tickets valued at more than £7,000 – including to the final of Euro 2024.

His bulging entertainment catalogue – detailed on the mayor’s official register of gifts and hospitality – show the 55-year-old married father-of-three snapped up many of the outings even after most ministers stopping taking freebies.

In response, the Conservatives said: ‘At a time when the country is staring down a cost-of-living crisis and an economy in freefall, the last thing Britain needs is a wannabe Prime Minister distracted by their next free show and leadership manoeuvring.

‘The country faces serious economic challenges and deserves a government that is focused on those, not divided my petty internal squabbles and party politics.’

Last year’s scandal erupted when it emerged that Sir Keir and half a dozen Labour figures had been given seats to see Taylor Swift.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaking to audience members at Glastonbury in 2022 

Olivia Rodrigo performs onstage during day five of the Glastonbury Festival 2025 for which Andy Burnham accepted tickets and accommodation worth £2,500

At the time, Mr Burnham – who donates 15 per cent of his salary to charity to help the homeless – backed moves to tighten up rules on gifts, saying the PM was ‘right to front it up’.

Following a backlash, the Prime Minister last October paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality.

Asked at the time if he would have taken similar freebies, Mr Burnham told Sky News he wasn’t claiming to be ‘holier than thou’.

‘So I donated 15 per cent of my own salary since I became Mayor because I recognise that you live the life that gives you some privileges at times and you know, I took the decision that that’s the right thing to do,’ he added.

Since then, Mr Burnham – a former Culture Secretary renowned for his passion for football and indie music – has accepted freebies worth more than £3,000, according to his register of donations.

In June he received two tickets worth £105 to see Massive Attack at Manchester’s Co-op Live – having earlier joined them in signing a pledge against fossil fuel use.

They were provided by SJM Concerts, the promoter behind this year’s sold-out Oasis reunion tour.

Later that month Mr Burnham accepted four tickets to the Glastonbury Festival worth £1,520.

Andy Burnham (left) joining Massive Attack members Robert Del Naja (centre left) and Grant Marshall (centre) to launch a fossil fuels pledge in June before he accepted two tickets to see them perform at Manchester’s Co-op Live from promoters SJM Concerts

Andy Burnham (right) at the launch of Raise the Roof concert to aid a homelessness charity in 2019 with (left to right) chair of the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s charity Tim Heatley, Tom Ogden of the Blossoms and Liam Fray of the Courteeners

He was also gifted accommodation for two at the Somerset festival from PRS for Music, the organisation which pays royalties to artists, worth £1,000.

According to the register, the Glastonbury tickets were accepted as Mr Burnham was one of the speakers, discussing disability benefits.

Then in August he received two tickets to watch the Hundred cricket clash between Manchester Originals and London Spirit worth £458.

And on September 20 Mr Burnham – an Everton season ticket holder – accepted one ticket with hospitality to watch the Merseyside derby at Anfield worth £228.

It was provided by the Sovini Group, a Bootle-based not-for-profit housing provider.

Also in the past 12 months Mr Burnham accepted four tickets last November to watch the Courteeners – who he once hailed as ‘the biggest truly Manc band for ages’ – worth £440.

They were gifted by Chris Oglesby, CEO of Manchester-based office provider Bruntwood.

Later that month he also received four tickets to the MTV European Music Awards at the Co-op Live.

Mohamed Salah shoots at goal during last month’s Merseyside derby at Anfield which Everton fan Andy Burnham attended after accepting a £228 hospitality ticket from housing provider the Sovini Group

Two tickets worth £150 each were received from Labour-controlled Manchester city council’s leader Bev Craig’s office plus two tickets with hospitality for family members at £250 each, a package worth a total of £800.

A spokesman for Mr Burnham told the Daily Mail: ‘Since he was first elected in 2017, the Mayor has honoured his manifesto commitment to donate 15 per cent of his salary to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.

‘Over the eight-and-a-half years he has been in office, this commitment has seen him donate more than £100,000.

‘As Mayor of one of the country’s biggest city regions, it is right that he represents Greater Manchester at the events that bring major benefit to the local economy.’