As Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces his intention to step down, triggering a potential leadership contest within the Labour party, all eyes are firmly on Andy Burnham – the former Mayor of Greater Manchester and newly anointed MP for Makerfield.
Whether or not anyone else will put their name in the running against Burnham remains to be seen and he's firmly the frontrunner either way, so it's pretty important that we all get clued up on the guy's voting record.
Oh! And before diving into his specific policy history, it’s worth flagging that prior to becoming Mayor, Burnham served as an MP from 2001 to 2017 (holding massive cabinet roles like Health Secretary) – so there's a lot of data to work through.
This is everything we know about the issues Burnham has championed in the past, especially in relation to women's rights (e.g. his views on abortion, domestic abuse and equality) and an idea of what we could expect from the likely future PM...
What is Andy Burnham's voting record like?
Reproductive rights
According to They Work For You, a database allowing you to easily see where your MP stands on various issues, Burnham is pro greater reproductive rights for women. He consistently voted against restrictive amendments during major debates on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill in 2008, rejecting lower time limits for terminations.
Burnham has also been vocal on the importance of robust sexual health education, arguing in select committees that high-quality sex education is vital for reducing teenage pregnancies and supporting young people.
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Maternity
During his time as a minister and cabinet member under the Blair and Brown governments, Burnham backed his party's expansion of paid maternity leave from 26 weeks to 39 weeks. He has also broadly supported Labour's push to make flexible working more accessible, arguing that workers should be better supported to balance work with caring responsibilities and later-life pressures.
Ending violence against women and girls
Burnham has repeatedly spoken about the need to tackle male violence against women and girls, particularly following the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021. At the time, he said, "Women shouldn’t have to change their behaviour because of unacceptable behaviour by men, but they've been doing this all their lives because the threats and dangers to women and girls are still all too real and prevalent. As men, we need to take responsibility for this and consider what changes we all need to make to our behaviour."
LGBTQ+ rights
Over the course of his political career, Burnham has backed equal marriage, supported reforms to make legal gender recognition easier for trans people and repeatedly spoken out against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, he also established an LGBTQ+ Equality Panel. However, his position on trans rights has come under scrutiny in recent months.
While Burnham continues to describe himself as supportive of trans people, he has also backed the implementation of the controversial Supreme Court ruling and Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on single-sex spaces. LGBTQ+ and trans rights organisations have criticised the move, arguing it could further marginalise trans people and fuel discrimination. Supporters say the ruling provides greater legal clarity around sex-based rights and single-sex services.
Following the ruling, Burnham advocated for a "live and let live approach to life" and said it must be implemented in the "fairest, most compassionate way possible", which some have viewed as him walking back from a strong pro-trans stance in the past.
NHS
As former Health Secretary and later Shadow Health Secretary, Burnham has loudly defended the NHS and been anti-privatisation. On the 70th birthday of the National Health Service, Burnham reminded onlookers at Trafford General Hospital that "healthcare should be provided based on need, not ability to pay".
Housing
Typically, Burnham's voting record shows he's stood against restricting housing benefits and scaling back social housing, and as Mayor of Greater Manchester he argued that "a safe, secure home should be a basic right for everybody". While his team failed to meet its 2020 target of eradicating homelessness from the city, Burnham has been passionate about pointing out that housing insecurity is inextricably linked to wider inequality, warning too many people are being "locked out of the housing market".
Transport
Burnham's biggest environmental move outside of Parliament was creating the Bee Network, which saw him bringing Greater Manchester's bus network under local control through franchising and integrating it with the region's tram system – encouraging green, affordable mass transit. He has championed a net-zero target for Greater Manchester by 2038 (ahead of the UK's national 2050 target).
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
