Born in Liverpool in 1970, Burnham grew up in Culcheth, a quiet commuter belt village in Cheshire, near Warrington.
His father, a BT engineer, and his mother, a GP receptionist, were both staunch Labour supporters and he developed an early interest in politics.
Burnham has described how he was inspired to join the Labour Party at the age of 14, after being moved by the BBC TV drama, Boys from the Blackstuff, about life on the dole in Liverpool.
A lifelong Everton fan, his friends remember Burnham as a competitive, sports-mad child, who was a fast bowler for Lancashire schoolboys cricket team.
At school, the local Roman Catholic comprehensive, his English teacher recalls how he stood to be a Labour candidate in mock elections – and won by a landslide.
Burnham credits his working-class Catholic upbringing for having a big impact on his politics, particularly teachings around social justice.
He has described himself as “Catholic by upbringing” although “not particularly religious”, but he was sworn in to Parliament over a Bible and will be the UK’s first prime minister to enter Downing Street as a Catholic.
While Burnham told the Times his mother would be “wearing her rosary beads out” to mark him becoming prime minister, his father, Roy, will unfortunately be unaware of his son’s achievement due to his dementia.
He told The Times: “That’s a sadness because he would be (proud). The way I look at it, it’s his achievement as well.
“A whole family achievement although he doesn’t know it.”
Burnham and his two brothers were the first in their family to go to university, with Andy studying English at Cambridge.
In his book, Head North, Burnham wrote that he “struggled to feel part of things” at university and felt like an “imposter”.
However, the music-lover – who is a fan of Manchester indie bands like The Smiths and The Stone Roses – said his “growing interest in Manchester music gave me an identity and an advantage”.
