When Andy Burnham was once criticised on social media for publicly praising the achievements of one of his two brothers, his response was robust. Directly addressing his online heckler, Britain’s next exepcted prime minister wrote: “Sod off you nob.”
The now former Manchester mayor has made much of his unabashed sense of attachment to family and belonging to the North West – a sentiment underlined this week by briefings from allies that he will keep his family home near Wigan as he seeks to shift power away from the capital and only use No 10 when working in London.
Burnham’s apparent plan to return home at least one or two days a week underlines the importance he attaches to what he has described as his “support system”, a safety net of loved ones and confidants. His younger brother, John, and older brother, Nick, are key parts of that Team Burnham network.
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Close brothers who ‘knocked seven bells out of each other’
