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| The Right HonourableAndy BurnhamMP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Health | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 7 October 2011 | |
| Leader | Ed Miliband |
| Preceded by | John Healey |
| In office 12 May 2010 – 8 October 2010 | |
| Leader | Harriet Harman Ed Miliband |
| Preceded by | Andrew Lansley |
| Succeeded 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 and the Member of Parliament for Leigh since 2001. He is Shadow Secretary of State for Health.
Burnham continuously held various Cabinet posts under the Premiership of Gordon Brown between 2007 to 2010, first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Secretary of State for Health. He was a candidate in the 2010 Labour leadership election, coming fourth out of the five candidates with 8.68% of the vote.
Early life
Burnham was born in Old Roan in Aintree, Liverpool in 1970, the son of a telephone engineer father and a receptionist mother. He was also brought up in Culcheth, close to Warrington. 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 for an English degree at Fitzwilliam College.
Joining the Labour Party
Burnham joined the Labour Party aged 14 in 1984.
Burnham was a researcher to Tessa Jowell from 1994 until the 1997 election, and 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 on 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, Burnham was promoted to the position of Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, replacing James Purnell. In June 2008, he had to apologise to the director of pressure group Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, after she threatened to sue him for libel for smearing her reputation.
In late 2008, Burnham 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."
He was promoted again to become Secretary of State for Health in June 2009. He held the post until the then Labour Government resigned after the 2010 general election.
In Opposition
Burnham became Shadow Secretary of State for Health after May 2010 and following the resignation of Gordon Brown's government.
Following Brown's further resignation as Leader of the Labour Party and as Prime Minister, Burnham declared his intention to stand in the subsequent 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 with less than 9% of the total vote.
At the end of September 2010, Burnham openly criticised new Prime Minister David Cameron for the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government's public spending cuts and health reforms to the NHS.
In October 2010, Burnham was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Election Co-ordinator for the Labour Party. One day short of a year later, he was appointed again to his former role of Shadow Secretary of State for Health, and has held the role since 2011.
Personal life
Burnham is married to Marie-France van Heel since 2000, having been in a relationship for 11 years beforehand since university. The couple have a son and two daughters, and 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. In July 2003, Burnham played for Conference club Leigh RMI in a pre-season friendly against Everton. He came on as an 88th minute substitute for Neil Robinson in the 1-1 draw at Hilton Park.
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; Thomson, Alice (15 October 2007). "Marriage is important, children do notice". Telegraph.co.uk. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
- 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.
- 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.
- ^ "Leigh RMI 1-1 Everton". EvertonFC.com. Everton Football Club. 26 July 2003. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
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 2001–05
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