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Andrew Burnham
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Right Honourable Andrew Burnham MP |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 28 June 2007 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
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| Preceded by | Stephen Timms |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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Member of Parliament
for Leigh |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 7 June 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Lawrence Cunliffe |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
| Majority | 17,272 (47.3%) |
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| Born |  Liverpool, UKJanuary 07, 1970 |
| Nationality | Britain |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Marie-France Van Heel |
| Alma mater | Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge |
Andrew Murray Burnham MP (born January 7, 1970), usually known as Andy Burnham, is a British politician. He is the Labour Member of Parliament for the Greater Manchester constituency of Leigh and has been Chief Secretary to the Treasury since June 28, 2007.
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Andy Burnham was born in Liverpool, the son of a telephone engineer, and raised in Culcheth in Warrington, close to the village of Lowton (which is at the southern end of the Leigh Parliamentary Constituency). He was educated at St Aelred's Roman Catholic High School (now St Aelred's Catholic Technology College) on Birley Street in Newton-le-Willows and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge from where he was awarded an MA (Hons) in English.
He joined the Labour Party aged just 14 in 1984 during the miners strike, and was a researcher to Tessa Jowell MP from 1994 until after the 1997 General 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 until December 1997, before taking up the post as an administrator with the Football Task Force for a year. In 1998, he became a special advisor to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Chris Smith, where he remained until his election to parliament. He joined the UNISON trade union in 2000.
Andy Burnham contested the safe Labour seat of Leigh at the 2001 General Election following the retirement of Lawrence Cunliffe. He was elected with a majority of 16,362, and gave his maiden speech on July 4, 2001 [1].
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 (PPS) to the Home Secretary David Blunkett. Following Blunkett's first resignation in 2004 he became the PPS to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Ruth Kelly. He was promoted to serve in Tony Blair's government after the 2005 General Election as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for identity cards legislation.
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 Gordon Brown's cabinet reshuffle of 28th June 2007, Burnham was promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Burnham caused embarrassment to the Government in August 2007 by attacking the Conservative party's Economic Competitiveness report before admitting in an interview that he had not read the report.[1]
The Daily Telegraph published an interview[2] 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 was controversial, it was argued, because following through this argument would replicate the current policies of the Conservative Party, the official opposition in the UK.
Andy Burnham married Marie-France Van Heel in 2000 after some years of cohabitation,[2] and their son attended the wedding. Van Heel is the Head of Marketing for Littlewoods Pools, and they have a son and two daughters. Burnham is the honorary Chairman of Leigh Rugby League Club and a supporter of Everton Football Club.
- ^ "Battle ahead over IHT", Money Marketing, August 20 2007.
- ^ a b Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson "Marriage is important, children do notice", Daily Telegraph, 13 October 2007. Retrieved on 13 October 2007.
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Andrew Burnham MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Andy Burnham MP
- Voting record at the Public Whip
- BBC Politics page
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by Lawrence Cunliffe |
Member of Parliament for Leigh 2001 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Stephen Timms |
Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
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| Alexander | Ashton | Balls | Benn | Blears | Brown | Browne | Burnham | Darling | Denham | Hain | Harman | Hoon | Hutton | Johnson | Kelly | D. Miliband | E. Miliband | Purnell | J. Smith | Straw | Woodward In attendance: Austin | Cooper | Grocott | Hughes | Jowell | Malloch-Brown | Scotland | A. Smith |
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