It comes as no surprise that Andy Burnham has been elected as the leader of the Labour Party and will subsequently become the Prime Minister tomorrow – I, for one, couldn’t be happier. Now, I know it’s a bit rogue for a showbiz editor to talk about politics, but earlier this year I interviewed Andy in person, and it was as if I were chatting to an old friend. I knew that, should he return to politics, we’d be in safe hands.
We met one another at the official launch for the BRIT Awards nominees at the Co-op Live in Manchester, weeks before the ceremony took place. We were both wandering around the room. I was looking for friends, and Andy was talking to people too.
As somebody who grew up in the North, like Burnham, I have a real sense of pride in how developed cities such as Manchester and Liverpool have become in recent years. And just like Burnham, I’m a huge fan of the northern music scene. I grew up on Oasis, The Stone Roses and Girls Aloud (Sarah Harding and Nicola Roberts), all being from Manchester.
The Zutons, The Wombats, Cast and many more from Liverpool, we’ve produced some of the best musicians of all time, and I couldn’t be prouder. So, I had one chance to get to speak to Andy Burnham – and I took it. There were whispers that he was hoping to become an MP again, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled.
For years, the north had been overlooked, and as Mayor of Greater Manchester, it was only natural to speak to Andy about the importance of events such as the BRIT Awards and the MOBOs coming to the north. He told me he had been waiting “all his life” to see the north become home to some of the biggest events.
There was one part of our interview which really resonated with me. Andy said: “In my time, growing up, it was the complete opposite. We’ve come through all these decades, and now look at us. It’s an emotional moment, Manchester has been on a long road back, and I believe music started that change journey – here we are, it’s a great thing to see.”
Over the years, I’ve had to travel to cities such as London for events or concerts, with many artists seeing the UK as London – or the south. Since I was a teen, I had been travelling to Manchester with friends for days out, exploring the Northern Quarter, then going on nights out at places like Satan’s Hollow and the now-empty Deansgate Locks, and seeing some of my favourite signed and unsigned acts at venues including The Deaf Institute.
One thing I took away from the interview, Andy was just as passionate about people accessing live music as I am. In a world where ticket prices are increasing to extortionate levels, he was keen to support grassroots venues, which many people in his position could learn a thing or two about.
Andy told me: “If you look at what goes on here [Manchester], every night of the week, there’s stuff happening on the music scene, seven days a week, we have the infrastructure that goes from the smallest venues to the best in the country, like this [Co-op Live], there’s no in between.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that Bev [Craig] and I consider this critical infrastructure in the city. This is a music city to its fingertips. People here are knowledgeable about music, they love music, and in many ways, it creates the heartbeat of the whole place, and it is why both of us prioritise protecting our venues, supporting our artists, and obviously the BRITs, as Bev said, it just brings all of that to the fore. So we don’t see this as peripheral in any way; it’s actually fully mainstream. Music is mainstream within the city.”
And that is the truth. Andy has completely transformed Manchester over his tenure as Mayor. And now he’s back in government, and as leader of the Labour Party, I do believe that Britain will see brighter days. I don’t say that lightly either; I know Andy has a tough job ahead of him, but as a fellow northener, I have faith in him.
Andy is the second politician I have interviewed, and I can’t lie, I came away from our chat feeling a lot more optimistic than I did after my first interview with an MP, when I was just starting out. I knew that he was driven and determined to do the best for the people of Greater Manchester to give them a voice.
Now he is in Number 10, I think the same. Even more so now he has spoken about a Number 10 North. This is exactly what we have been crying out for. And I don’t say that lightly, I have lived in the North West, South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Birmingham and London in my adult life (the life of a journalist), and I have always taken an interest in local politics.
But Burnham has made politics more approachable for everybody. This was echoed by Liverpudlian singer Jamie Webster, whom I interviewed earlier this month. Jamie, a working-class lad who has partied with his fellow Scouser at Glastonbury, believes that Andy will “give the north a voice”.
“I think it’ll help the North a lot better,” he said of the fellow Scouser becoming the next PM. Jamie added: “If anything, what Andy Burnham does is he makes politics a bit more approachable.
“At least we can maybe be heard up here in the North, and real people can actually have a voice, and get it to the right places.” Speaking about his experience with Burnham, Jamie commented: “I have met Andy a few times, and from what I have with my own personal experience, which is all you can ever really judge people off in the first instance, isn’t it?
“My personal experience with Andy’s always been really good; he’s always been really polite, really friendly, had a lot of time, not just for me, but other people around him. And, I’ve actually spent a bit of time in Glastonbury with Andy. I don’t think Keir Starmer’s ever been to Glastonbury.”
And just like Jamie, I do believe that the North will be a much better place with a northern PM – and with central government relocating from Westminster to where it matters most – around the people.
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