Andy Burnham is officially Prime Minister of the UK, but before he was leader of the Labour party, Mayor of Greater Manchester or even a politician at all, he was a school pupil like any other. And, like many children, Andy earned himself a nickname – and his mum has revealed what it was.
While Mayor, Andy was dubbed ‘King of the North’, but as a child his nickname was rather more obscure. Speaking to the Mirror back in 2015, Andy’s mum, Eileen, said, ‘They called our Andy “Seven Eights” at school.’ While it might seem like an usual moniker, the reason behind the title is relatively straightforward. Eileen explains it was because Andy, ‘couldn’t remember that seven eights are 56’. A simple slip-up of his timetables, and it seems it stuck.
During the same interview, Eileen was joined by Andy and his dad, Roy, as the family opened up further about Andy’s childhood. He grew up with two brothers: older brother Nick and younger brother John. ‘The boys were always close, but they still knocked seven bells out of each other every day,’ said Eileen. She revealed they would get competitive with each other, even while at church where they were all altar boys: ‘Andy had to be the one at the front holding the Communion plate.’
Andy was a sporty child who loved football and cricket, according to the Mirror, but there were strict rules to follow when it came to bringing kit into the house. Andy remembers one incident in particular: ‘The worst rollocking I ever had was for clomping up new wooden staircase with screw-in studs… leaving six imprints on every step.’
Despite the childhood squabbles and (at least intially) shaky times-tables, it was clear Andy was a bright boy and a hard worker, so his teacher suggested he applied to the University of Cambridge. Worried he wouldn’t fit in, Andy was reluctant, but said in the interview that his parents convinced him to go for it. He went on to to study English at Fitzwilliam College, which is where he met his wife, Marie-France van Heel.
Fast-forward to today, and the couple now have three children together: Jimmy, Rosie and Anne-Marie. On Monday (20 July) the couple stepped over the threshold of their new address, Number 10 Downing Street, hand in hand. After travelling to Buckingham Palace together to meet the King (where Andy was officially asked by His Majesty to form a Government) the couple arrived at Downing Street. As Andy stood before media, friends, family and supporters to deliver his first speech, Marie-France was by his side with his parents, waiting to congratulate him.
