As Andy Burnham enters No 10, what of his ‘bezzie mate’ Steve Rotheram?

Andy Burnham (right) and Steve Rotheram at a meeting on the night-time economy in Liverpool in February. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham (right) and Steve Rotheram at a meeting on the night-time economy in Liverpool in February. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters As Andy Burnham enters No 10, what of his ‘bezzie mate’ Steve Rotheram? A longstanding bromance means the Liverpool regional major very much has the ear of the soon-to-be PM W hen a new prime minister enters Downing Street, observers usually look to those around the cabinet table to see where influence lies. With Andy Burnham , they should look 200 miles north – not to Manchester, but Liverpool. Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool city region, may not have a formal role in government but he has a strong claim to having the closest personal bond to the incoming prime minister, a man he calls his “bezzie mate”. A former bricklayer who helped rebuild the Falklands after the 1982 war, Rotheram is something of an unknown quantity for many Westminster-watchers. He was MP for Liverpool Walton for seven years – including a stint as parliamentary aide to Jeremy Corbyn when he was Labour leader – until 2017, when he convinced Burnham they should leave for the newly-created mayoral posts in Manchester and Liverpool. Nine years later, Burnham is prime minister. Could Rotheram be heading back to Westminster too? View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham (right) and Steve Rotheram in 2016, when both were metro mayor candidates. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images “It’s only ever crossed my mind in a jokey way,” he said of reports that mayors could be appointed to the House of Lords as a step towards making the upper chamber more representative of the nations and regions. “There is all this speculation,” he said. “I’m gonna be Lord Rotheram of Kirkby, I’m going to be the tsar of such-and-such, I’m going to be the devo minister – all these wonderful things. Great, I wish someone would tell me”. Rotheram, 64, said he had no intention of leaving the mayoralty, a job he calls the “pinch-me privilege of my life”. Why would he leave, some may ask, when the riches could soon start flowing to Merseyside thanks to his mate in Downing Street? Rotheram is quick to shoot that down. “There’s a danger that [people] believe we can circumvent the system just because we’ve got a friendship, and that’s not gonna happen. This is public money,” he said. “The exact same rules are there to stop Boris Johnson feathering the nests of his mates as they are to stop friendship being the only way to get projects delivered.” The pair’s political bromance stretches back to 2008, when Burnham was Gordon Brown’s culture secretary and met Rotheram, then Liverpool’s lord mayor, at various soirees during its the city’s year as European capital of culture. View image in fullscreen Andy Burnham (right) and Steve Rotheram outside No 10 before a meeting of metro mayors with Keir Starmer in 2024. Phot