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Revision as of 17:16, 27 August 2013 by Ianmacm (talk | contribs) (rv unsourced addition, see talk page)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) This article is about the politician. For the Roman Catholic priest, see Andrew Burnham (priest).
| The Right HonourableAndy BurnhamMP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Health | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 7 October 2011 | |
| Leader | Ed Miliband |
| Preceded by | John Healey |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Education | |
| In office 8 October 2010 – 7 October 2011 | |
| Leader | Ed Miliband |
| Preceded by | Ed Balls |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Twigg |
| Secretary of State for Health | |
| In office 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Alan Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Lansley |
| Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport | |
| In office 24 January 2008 – 5 June 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | James Purnell |
| Succeeded by | Ben Bradshaw |
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 28 June 2007 – 24 January 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Stephen Timms |
| Succeeded by | Yvette Cooper |
| Member of Parliament for Leigh | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 7 June 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Lawrence Cunliffe |
| Majority | 15,011 (31.1%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1970-01-07) 7 January 1970 (age 54) Aintree, Lancashire, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Marie-France van Heel |
| Alma mater | Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge |
Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leigh since 2001. He served in the Cabinet under Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010 as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary and Health Secretary. He was a candidate in the 2010 Labour leadership election, coming fourth out of five candidates. Burnham was initially appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education within Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet, but was moved to become Shadow Secretary of State for Health.
Early life
Burnham was born in Old Roan in Aintree, Liverpool, the son of a telephone engineer father and a receptionist mother, and brought up in Culcheth, near Warrington where his family moved to when his father was promoted to a job in Manchester. He was educated at St. Lewis' Primary School and St Aelred's Roman Catholic High School in Newton-le-Willows and the University of Cambridge, where he read English at Fitzwilliam College.
Joining the Labour Party
Burnham joined the Labour Party aged 14 in 1984, during the miners' strike, and was a researcher to Tessa Jowell from 1994 until the 1997 election. He joined the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1995. After the 1997 election, he was briefly a Parliamentary Officer for the NHS Confederation from August to December 1997, before taking up the post as an administrator with the Football Task Force for a year.
In 1998, he became a Special Adviser to the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Chris Smith, a position he remained in until his election to Parliament in 2001.
Member of Parliament
After the retirement of Lawrence Cunliffe, Burnham applied to be the Parliamentary Candidate for the safe Labour seat of Leigh. Burnham managed to secure selection to contest the safe seat at the next General Election. At the 2001 election, he was elected with a majority of 16,362, and gave his maiden speech on 4 July 2001.
In Government
Following his election to Parliament, he became a member of the Health Select Committee from 2001 until 2003, when he was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Secretary David Blunkett. Following Blunkett's first resignation in 2004, he went on to become the PPS to Education Secretary Ruth Kelly. He was promoted to serve in the Government after the 2005 election as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, with responsibility for implementing the Identity Cards Act 2006.
In the government reshuffle of 5 May 2006, Burnham was promoted from the Home Office to a Minister of State at the Department of Health.
In Cabinet
In Gordon Brown's first Cabinet, announced 28 June 2007, Burnham was appointed as the new Chief Secretary to the Treasury, a position he held until 2008.
The Daily Telegraph published an interview with Burnham on 13 October 2007 in which he stated that: "I think it’s better when children are in a home where their parents are married" and "it’s not wrong that the tax system should recognise commitment and marriage", which created some controversy because following through this argument would replicate the current policies of the Conservative Party.
In a re-shuffle in January 2008, he was appointed as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, replacing James Purnell.
In June 2008, he was apologised to the director of pressure group Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, after she threatened to sue him for libel for smearing her reputation.
In late 2008, he announced Government plans to crack down on the Internet, tightening up controls in order to "even up" what he claimed was an imbalance with TV regulations. This was followed by a speech to the UK music industry's lobbying group, UK Music, in which he announced a "a time that calls for partnership between Government and the music business as a whole: one with rewards for both of us; one with rewards for society as a whole. (...) My job – Government’s job – is to preserve the value in the system."
In Opposition
Following the resignation of Gordon Brown as Leader of the Labour Party after the 2010 general election, Andy Burnham declared his intention to stand in the subsequent Labour leadership contest. He launched his leadership campaign in his Leigh constituency on 26 May. Burnham led on his philosophy of "aspirational socialism", aligning himself with Intern Aware's campaign to end unpaid internships. He also made key policy commitments to the creation of a National Care Service and also called for inheritance tax to be replaced with a land value tax instead. The leadership contest was eventually won by Ed Miliband. Burnham finished fourth.
Burnham continued in his role as Shadow Health Secretary, and at the end of September 2010 he openly criticised new Prime Minister David Cameron for the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition Government's public spending cuts and health reforms to the NHS. In 2011 Burnham was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Election Co-ordinator for the Labour Party.
Political controversy
Burnham was criticised during the 2010 election campaign after leaflets were sent to 250,000 women, some of them cancer patients, featuring a message from a breast cancer survivor who praised Labour's health policy. Burnham, the health secretary, denied that cancer patients had been targeted.
In July 2013 the Daily Telegraph stated that Burnham's staff had edited his Misplaced Pages page to remove critical material. Burnham's office claimed that they had removed false statements that had been drawn to their attention.
Personal life
Burnham is married to Marie-France van Heel, whom he wed in 2000 after 11 years together. The couple had been dating since university. The couple have a son and two daughters. Burnham is a Roman Catholic.
Burnham was the Honorary Chairman of Leigh Rugby League Club for a short period of time. Burnham was also a talented junior cricketer (playing for Lancashire CCC Juniors) and keen footballer, and competed at both sports for his college. He has played for Labour's "Demon Eyes" football team and is a lifelong fan of Premier League football club Everton.
References
- "Andy's biography from his Andy4Leader web-site".
- "[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Biography of Andy Burnham : Department of Health — About us". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- New Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport BACTA, 28 January 2008
- Woodward, Will (26 January 2008). "New culture secretary keeps an open mind on licence fee". The Guardian. London: Guardian News & Media. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - "House of Commons Hansard; vol 371, part 14, col 333". Hansard. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 4 July 2001. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
- ^ Sylvester, Rachel (15 October 2007). "Marriage is important, children do notice". Telegraph.co.uk. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Sometimes a problem really is an opportunity. . . for others Times Online, 25 January 2008
- Percival, Jenny (23 June 2008). "Chakrabarti-Davis row: Liberty head accepts letter of apology from Burnham". guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian News & Media. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
- Sweney, Mark (26 September 2008). "Government to tighten up web controls". The Guardian.
- "The medium and the message". BBC News. 1 October 2008.
- Holmwood, Leigh (11 June 2008). "Andy Burnham hints at tighter control of online content". The Guardian.
- Andy Burnham and Charlie McCreevy speak at UK Music's first creators' conference
- "Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott join Labour leadership race". Daily Telegraph. London. 19 May 2010. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010Template:Inconsistent citations
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) - Burnham seeks to stand out from leadership crowd BBC News, 26 May 2010
- Randeep, Ramesh (1 October 2010). "Health secretary rebuts Labour criticisms over NHS plans". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- Hastings, Chris; Chittenden, Maurice; Mann, Nyta (11 April 2010). "Labour attacked over mailshot to cancer patients". The Times. London.
- Hall, Melanie (21 July 2013). "Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham's staff deleted 'negative' Misplaced Pages references". The Telegraph. London.
- Merrick, Jane (24 March 2013). "Keep the faith, Andy Burnham tells NHS and Church". The Independent. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- Labour MP (22 October 2002). "Andy Burnham". BBC News. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
- Brown, Colin (20 June 2008). "Andy Burnham: The Mr Nice Guy who talked his way into a nasty situation". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
External links
- Andy Burnham MP Official constituency website
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Audio clips
- Interview with GMR after 2005 election BBC Manchester
- Video clips
- Delivering 18 week NHS target YouTube
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byLawrence Cunliffe | Member of Parliament for Leigh 2001 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byStephen Timms | Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2007–2008 |
Succeeded byYvette Cooper |
| Preceded byJames Purnell | Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 2008–2009 |
Succeeded byBen Bradshaw |
| Preceded byAlan Johnson | Secretary of State for Health 2009–2010 |
Succeeded byAndrew Lansley |
| Preceded byEd Balls | Shadow Secretary of State for Education 2010–2011 |
Succeeded byStephen Twigg |
| Preceded byJohn Healey | Shadow Secretary of State for Health 2011–present |
Incumbent |
| 2010 Labour Party leadership election | |
|---|---|
| Outgoing Leader: Gordon Brown | |
| Winner | |
| Other nominees | |
| Not nominated | |
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| Secretaries of state for culture, media and sport of the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| National Heritage (1992–1997) | |
| Culture, Media and Sport (1997–2010) | |
| Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (2010–2012) | |
| Culture, Media and Sport (2012–2017) | |
| Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2017–2023) | |
| Culture, Media and Sport (2023–present) | |
 Chief secretaries to the treasury | ||
|---|---|---|
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- Use dmy dates from May 2012
- 1970 births
- People from Warrington
- Living people
- Politicians from Liverpool
- Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
- British special advisers
- Labour Party (UK) MPs
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- Secretaries of State for Health (UK)
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- UK MPs 2010–