Joining us at Audible Studios are Mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region respectively, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram.

Andy Burnham has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, and as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary and Health Secretary among other roles during his extended political career. During the Coronavirus Pandemic, Burnham earned himself the moniker ‘King of the North’ for securing more money for local Northern communities.

Steve Rotheram has served as Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region since 2017 and like Burnham, has long supported the Labour party. After starting out as a bricklayer, Rotheram went on to work as a business manager for the Learning and Skills Council before being elected to the Liverpool City Council. He has also served as Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and as Jeremy Corbyn’s Parliamentary Private Secretary.

Burnham and Rotheram have come together to write Head North, an autobiography meets ten-point action plan, which they hope will distribute power away from the ‘Westminster bubble’ and spread it more equally throughout the country. We’ll be talking with Andy and Steve about why the North and South are so unequal, what changes they want to see, and if Andy will ever run for Labour leader again.