Skip to main content

Burnham plays the football card

Politicians and football are a bit of a two-way street.   Clubs are keen to host them at games in the hope of securing influence.   Politicians use football as a means of demonstrating authenticity.

Andy Burnham’s passion for football has built him a following across the north of England, according to new data that suggests the Greater Manchester mayor has cultivated a public brand despite trailing media-savvy rivals on TikTok and Instagram.

Financial Times analysis of X found 17 per cent of Burnham’s posts so far this year have been about football, more than almost any other topic, helping him build a social media following that extends far beyond his own team, Premier League side Everton.

About 15 per cent of Burnham’s followers in the north of England are Liverpool fans and a further 27 per cent support Manchester United or Manchester City, according to audience intelligence platform Pulsar.  Burnham has been a leading advocate of a 'Hillsborough' law.

Alex Bryson, head of content marketing at Pulsar, said Burnham had won over northern voters by presenting himself as a “normal football-supporting bloke” but that it was not yet clear if this would work at a national level. “Burnham’s cut-through to football fans is very real, and goes beyond Manchester, but crucially [it] does not at present extend in any significant way beyond the north,” he told the Pink ‘Un.

Freebies received by the former cabinet minister also reflect his passion for the game: tickets for matches including Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton account for almost £8,000 of the £20,700 in gifts and hospitality Burnham has declared since 2022
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...
Post a Comment
Read more

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

A poor financial record, but new hope at Everton

I recently saw an amusing video online in which a group of Everton fans were rebuked in jest for being hopeful.  Football fans in general tend to swing between excessive optimism and excessive pessimism, but for many it seems that moaning is in their bloodstream (Spurs fans probably take the trophy).  However, Everton fans have had plenty to moan about on and off the pitch.   Let’s hope that a new era is about to begin for this grand old club. Everton’s 2023/24 financial results covered a fairly momentous season, when they ended up 15th in the Premier League, though they would finished three places higher if they had not received an 8-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR). It was a worrying time for Everton fans, as the club faced a “perfect storm” of issues, including large financial losses, an ever increasing debt burden, a challenging stadium build and the tortuous sale of the club. There were eve...
Post a Comment
Read more