Real life of Andy Burnham - who is his wife, why he supports Everton and how he became Greater Manchester mayor

He's one of the most recognised faces in Greater Manchester and beyond.

In fact he is such an omnipresent figure in our region that Andy Burnham's name has become synonymous with the state of local politics in recent years.

Burnham has been Greater Manchester mayor since 2017 - but he had a long career in politics before that.

First elected to Parliament in 2001, Andy was the MP for Leigh, around four miles from where he grew up. He was born in Old Roan near Aintree in Merseyside, leading some to question whether a 'Scouser' could really become the first mayor of Greater Manchester.

A year after he was born in 1970, his dad got a promotion at the Post Office which took him to Manchester city centre. According to Andy, his dad Roy and mum Eileen 'randomly' decided to move to Culcheth which is halfway between Liverpool and Manchester.

In his book Head North, which was published in 2024, Andy revealed that his dad had once spent the day at a telephone exchange in the village near Warrington and he 'liked the feel of the place'. Although the village 'leant more towards Manchester', Andy says that most people in Culchetch supported Liverpool, making the Burnhams the only match-going Everton family in that part of Cheshire.

Andy watched his beloved football club take on Norwich in the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park in Birmingham, which took place on the same day as the Hillsborough disaster. In his book, he recalls the anxious wait he, his dad and brothers Nick and John faced that day to find out if their friends were still alive after hearing that Liverpool fans had been killed in a crush at the stadium in Sheffield.

Five years earlier, Andy ran onto the pitch at Highbury during the 1984 FA Cup semi-final. He is still