Mr. Andy Burnham, 56 years old, Labour politician and former Mayor of Manchester, seems to be succeeding Mr. Keir Starmer as British Prime Minister after the incumbent Prime Minister announced his resignation on June 22.
Mr. Burnham was born in the Liverpool region, his father is a telephone engineer and his mother is a receptionist. He joined the Labour Party at the age of 15.
Mr. Burnham studied English at the University of Cambridge. After graduating, he followed the familiar path of British politicians: working as a researcher in Parliament.
He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2001 and served as advisor, then minister under Prime Minister Tony Blair, who voted in favor of the British military joining the US military intervention in Iraq in 2003.
His highest role was as Minister of Health under Tony Blair's successor - Gordon Brown. Later, he became one of the few senior officials during Tony Blair's time working with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr. Burnham has run for Labor Party leader twice, but his previous support in Iraq has hindered him in both. Mr. Burnham finished second after Mr. Corbyn in his second run in 2015, then left Parliament in 2017.
He changed direction, becoming a protector of the working class in northern England for more than 2 terms as mayor of Manchester, one of the largest cities in England.
During his term, the Greater Manchester region exploded, the economy doubled the country's growth rate. Mr. Burnham elevated the region's position.
He was nicknamed "King of the North", inspired by the TV series "Game Of Thrones", after he gave a strong speech reacting to Britain's treatment of Manchester during the COVID-19 pandemic. This nickname has been associated with him to this day.
Over the past year, Mr. Burnham has strived to turn the achievements during his tenure as mayor into a model for innovation in Britain. The result is what he calls "Manchesterism" - a political strategy based on granting control of essential services to the locality, while spreading the optimism he has always emphasized in his homeland.
Mr. Burnham's most prominent policy is the comprehensive reform of the public bus system.
Mr. Burnham is said to be pursuing a stronger state intervention approach to revive the UK economy.
He has repeatedly affirmed that the rich should pay more taxes. Mr. Burnham also called for a widespread reform of social services, proposed a program to build public housing and supported the application of a local bus fare ceiling of £2 (about 2.64 USD) per trip.
He advocated returning Thames Water - a private water supply company serving most of southern England - to public ownership. The realization of these ideas will depend partly on who Mr. Burnham chooses for the position of Minister of Finance - who is responsible for supervising tax and spending policies.
Mr. Burnham also called for promoting a "re-industrialization campaign" across northern England, and said that the education system needs to be adjusted to guide people to pursue careers in the industrial field, instead of the current model that is "too dependent on the path of university".
