Andy Burnham has grown his social media following to more than one million after a 26 per cent increase in the past week.
The Makerfield MP’s combined following on TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook has grown from 828,000 on June 23 to 1.05 million today (July 1).
While most of Burnham’s followers are on X, the biggest growth has come on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Burnham’s self-deprecating sense of humour has seen his following on Instagram and TikTok grow by 236 per cent and 55 per cent respectively over the past week.
Over the same period, his Facebook following has grown from 109,000 to 192,000 – an increase of 76 per cent.
On Monday, Burnham took the unusual step of not taking questions from journalists after setting out his vision for the UK in a speech at the People’s History Museum in Manchester.
The move was criticised by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice, but described by Tony Blair’s former spokesman Alastair Campbell as a ‘good move’.
BusinessCloud executive editor Chris Maguire, who co-hosts the political podcast Northern Spin with Frank McKenna, said Burnham was living up to his promise to do politics differently.
He said: “Burnham knew that if he answered a question about his choice of Chancellor that would take the focus away from his speech.
“The Daily Mail and The Telegraph are always going to be hostile to Burnham but their readership is not his target audience.
“His personality and humour come across really well on social media and the result is a surge in his following.
“Clearly Burnham’s policies need to be scrutinised but the end of Monday’s press conference was neither the time nor the place.”
- You can listen to the latest episode of the Northern Spin podcast here.