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We confronted Andy Burnham about his Brexit U-turn - his tetchy reaction says it all
Reach Daily Express | May 21, 2026 5:40 PM CST

Wannabe Prime Minister and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has run away from the Daily Express, after we challenged him over Brexit. He refused to answer questions this morning when asked if he still wanted to rejoin the EU. Mr Burnham also failed to give an answer when asked why he had decided not to talk about Brexit, despite running for a seat that voted to leave.

Mr Burnham, who has repeatedly been snapped going for a morning jog, chose to run away when asked if he would respect the largest democratic vote in British history, the Brexit referendum. So the Daily Express, who campaigned to leave the European Union and have recently launched a 'Give Us A Proper Brexit' campaign, decided to try and join him on his morning run. The Greater Manchester Mayor has faced criticism over his changing position on whether or not the UK should rejoin the EU. Last year he called for the country to return to Brussels "in my lifetime", but this week he backed away from that position.

Makerfield, the by-election seat for which he is standing, voted overwhelmingly to leave the EU.

Later, the Express challenged Mr Burnham again, as he returned from his jog - but he ran right past and refused to engage. He was asked "If you want to be Prime Minister, you should probably answer questions about Brexit" - but ran off.

The Daily Express is campaigning for Westminster to "Give Us A Proper Brexit", calling for the UK to exit the ECHR, slash red tape and create a 12-mile exclusion zone around the coast to protect British fishing.

The Makerfield by-election was called after Josh Simons, the incumbent, stepped down from the seat to give Mr Burnham a pathway to Parliament.

It is widely believed that the Manchester Mayor will seek to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the position of Labour Party leader and Prime Minister, should he win the seat and return to Parliament as an MP.

Labour is currently embroiled in a leadership crisis, after local elections earlier this month saw the party lose more than 1,500 councillors.

After the bloodbath results came in, backbench MP Catherine West called on Cabinet ministers to challenge the weakened Prime Minister.

That demand led to a slew of resignations from Government, including by former health secretary Wes Streeting, who has since challenged Sir Keir for the leadership.

Mr Streeting has also said that the United Kingdom should rejoin the European Union, in an attempt to win over the party's more remain-backing membership.

The Makerfield by-election will take place on June 18. Several parties have selected candidates already - including Labour, Reform UK, the Conservatives, Greens, Restore Britain and the Monster Raving Loony Party.

The Liberal Democrats will also stand a candidate in the by-election.


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