Andy Burnham is officially our first Prime Minister from the north of England in decades. The Makerfield MP, born in Aintree, Merseyside, was sworn in on Monday (July 20) after winning the backing of 349 Labour MPs.
But what about our previous PMs from beyond the Watford Gap? Here we take a closer look at his predecessors.
Mouth of the border: She didn’t sound like it, but Tory Margaret Thatcher was the last PM Britain to hail from near the north of England. The daughter of a grocer from Grantham, Lincolnshire, she took elocution lessons while she was at Oxford University to flatten out her accent. The Iron Lady was in power from 1979 to 1990.
Terrier spirit: Before Maggie there was Harold Wilson, the Labour PM from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976. Born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, he decided on his future career after visiting London when he was eight. He was a lifelong fan of Huddersfield Town FC.
North of Eden: Conservative Anthony Eden, in charge from 1955 to 1957, was technically from County Durham. In fact, he was born into landed gentry at stately home Windlestone Hall, near Rushyford. He was shipped off to boarding school in Surrey aged 10, then attended Eton College in Windsor.
Making a Stan: Tory Stanley Baldwin was PM three times, between 1923 and 1937. He was born in Bewdley, Worcestershire, but again, relocated down south to attend London public school Harrow.
Manc on it: In power from 1916 to 1922, Liberal David Lloyd George was born into a Welsh family in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester.
But they moved back to Llanystumdwy, Caernarfonshire, after his dad died of pneumonia when he was one. He was raised with Welsh as his first language.
Born to Leeds: Liberal Herbert Asquith was PM from 1908 to 1916 and led Britain into the First World War. He was born in Morley, Leeds, but moved to London to live with an uncle aged 11.
Not so Glad-stone: William Gladstone, four-time PM between 1868 and 1894, was born and raised in Liverpool. But the city has largely disowned its famous son, thanks to his support for the slave trade.
A student residence at the University of Liverpool, previously called Gladstone Hall, was renamed Dorothy Kuya Hall for an anti-racism campaigner in 2021.
Northern a-Peel: Best known as the father of modern policing, Tory Robert Peel was Prime Minister from 1841 to 1846. He was born in Bury, Lancashire to loaded industrialist Sir Robert Peel – and is said to have faced “ridicule and jealousy” from locals because of his posh background.
North (Wal)pole: Robert Walpole, the very first UK Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742, was born in Houghton, Norfolk. So you could say the north has a few things to answer for.