Burnham caught in yet another lie raising more concern that he is just another Starmer

Andy Burnham has won the Makerfield by-election, leaving many in the constituency and beyond breathing a sigh of relief that bigoted, abuse-justifying Reform UK didn’t take the seat.

However, this does not mean we are out of woods when it comes to politicians who lie, manipulate, and exploit British people to inflate their own egos and amass power.

The latest lie to add to the pile was made during his acceptance speech, when he said:

I always knew one day I would seek to go back to Westminster to complete that unfinished business.

As an aspiring law student, I attended Burnham’s Harry Street Lecture in 2019 and listened – enthusiastically – as he insisted that he never wanted to return to Westminster because he believed the system was broken and that people like him would never be able to fix it.

Instead, he said it was young lawyers and other changemakers who would need to see to that crucial task. This was music to our ears – and hit the nail on the head entirely – but now, Burnham is apparently the ‘changemaker’.

Well, he certainly is good at changing his tune, and his policies too.

"Everyone knows that politics isn't working, everyone can feel that the country isn't where it should be," Andy Burnham says after winning Makerfield by-election

This is a chance to "build a new politics", he adds

Follow live reaction and analysis: https://t.co/Tj8Xm2Xq5R pic.twitter.com/YoUu202Voq

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 19, 2026

Which Andy Burnham are we getting?

Many have raised this resounding question about which Andy Burnham we are getting – or going to get – when he has said so many contradictory things. Moreover, like Starmer, he has been caught in a number of lies and u-turns, which affords precious little confidence that anyone can count on his promises as being able to last.

Going further, his leadership as Mayor of Greater Manchester has seen dodgy deals, rising unemployment and homelessness, and the only true beneficiary of him holding the reins being super-rich developers. It is worth noting that those developers showed their ‘gratitude’ for the increase in wealth they saw as a result of Burnham’s deals by running off to Monaco – thus evading the tens of millions they owe in tax.

It is undeniable that Burnham evidently has a comfort with, at best, saying whatever he thinks people at the time want to hear and, at worst, lying.

7 years ago, he said what we all increasingly recognise, Westminster needs new blood who will tear it down and rebuild it so that it actually works for British people across the UK. He made clear, at the time, that people like him cannot do that – only the revolutionary youth could. Now, unsurprisingly, he has changed his tune.

But these chameleon-style politics only make it easier for far-right parties like Reform UK and Restore – with their blatant male grievance politics – to whip up further hate and division across the UK.

Therefore, we will expose his lies and manipulations so that the British public can recognise and reject any attempt to deceive them, rather than endure the disappointment many felt under Keir Starmer.

We need genuine, good faith politicians

And we aren’t the only ones questioning the authenticity of Burnham:

.@MothinAli is asked if an Andy Burnham premiership is a catastrophe for the Green party.

Mothin: "It depends which version of Andy Burnham turns up"

Mothin points out Burnhams rhetoric around immigration & welfare & his failure to call out Israels genocide. pic.twitter.com/4NuKH9a0HP

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) June 19, 2026

Can the real Andy Burnham please stand up?

After winning the Makerfield byelection, the race is on to take down Keir Starmer as prime minister. But what does the Labour party's most popular politician actually believe? @harriepw explains. pic.twitter.com/iSJjjmepbN

— Novara Media (@novaramedia) June 19, 2026

Andy’s u-turns

Our own Ed Sykes wrote of Burnham’s many u-turns, and emphasised how the more we scrutinise Burnham’s politics, the more difficult it becomes to grasp what he actually stands for. Throughout both his premiership and, funnily enough, his leadership bid, Starmer has repeatedly lied, misled the public, and then backtracked.

Promising change, Starmer only gave us Tory policies under a red rosette. As a result, people do not want yet another Starmerite in politics – and to avoid that, they’ve shown willing to vote Reform in many places across the country.

However, it doesn’t seem like Burnham recognises that and is still lying, whilst conveniently arguing that he, the ‘King of the North’, will do things differently.

In his acceptance speech, he virtue-signalled the public stating that he wanted:

To build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, dark politics of the kind we see today in the United States.

Nevertheless, Burnham has shown no sign that he is any more trustworthy than other career politicians seeking an easy ride, as Sykes wrote:

Burnham’s history of corporate funding and U-turns backs that up. And it’s also the story we’ve seen in the Makerfield by-election campaign. Because Burnham has:

• Failed to meet the Green promise to back public ownership of utilities, making some weak half-promises instead.
• Refused to speak out clearly against Israel’s genocide, unlike his Green opponent.
• Made some vague noises about electoral reform but said that any change would first need to “be in a manifesto and endorsed at a general election” (which Labour is unlikely to win outright ever again).
• Pledged to cut welfare and increase defence spending.
• Suggested he will look for private funds to help finish off the highly controversial HS2 rail project.
• Claimed to want “less factionalism” while refusing to entertain the idea of readmitting Jeremy Corbyn into the Labour Party.

Burnham is right, politics has to change, but does he actually want that?

The new Makerfield MP finished his speech by saying:

This result will bring about a country that works fairly for everywhere and for everybody.

People here have voted for change. They have voted for more power for the North and everywhere forgotten by Westminster.

They have voted for hope. Now let’s give that back to them.

However, everybody includes our trans community and immigrants and asylum seekers who are under attack by the far-right. Burnham has already suggested he will abandon these groups to the rising tide of hate – but they, arguably more than most, deserve real hope.

Believing Andy will suddenly change his tune when he gets into power is wishful thinking – and wishful thinking that equally proved dangerous for those who voted Starmer into the top job.

We must hold Burnham accountable and ensure that he puts his money where his mouth is by offering a genuine politics of change, not further hoodwinking the public whenever it suits his agenda.

After all, we cannot afford to make that mistake again.

Featured image via the Canary