Of the 36 million cars owned in Britain, around 2.8m are based in Scotland, 1.1m in Northern Ireland and 1.8m in Wales. Each of these three British nations has its own, locally elected government, parliament and first minister. The fourth, England (where around 30 million car owners reside), doesn’t.
But it does have its very own, unofficial, increasingly powerful and influential King of the North. He’s a 56-year old, Aintree-born bloke called Andrew Murray Burnham, but he’s also known as plain-old Andy B, The Messiah of Manchester, just elected MP for Makerfield and wannabe British Prime Minister. Within a week or three we’ll know if he successfully lands the PM job he craves.
And we’ll also know if, as part of what he describes as his “cry for a more equal Britain”, he’ll relocate at least part of the Government’s machine from London to Manchester. Might he refuse to sit at a desk in 10 Downing Street, preferring instead to have one at 10 Coronation Street? Could he argue that London’s had its day (even I, a born-and-bred Londoner, would tend to agree) and that Manchester should become the new capital of England? We’ll see.
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Regardless of whether you like or dislike Andy Burnham or his politics, it has to be acknowledged that during his nine years as Mayor of Manchester he did a generally sound job. His refusal to discriminate against, wage war on and charge drivers toll fees for entering his city (as some other mayors have unfairly done) suggests that he’s not one of those out of touch, car-loathing politicians we’ve come to know and despise.
