Andy Burnham — A Portrait of Determination, and the Case for the Archive

The news from Westminster this week confirms what many in the Labour movement have suspected for some time. Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, has been cleared by Labour's National Executive Committee to contest the Makerfield by-election — the seat vacated by Josh Simons — with a view to challenging Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership of the Labour Party.

Should Andy succeed — first in Makerfield, and then at the dispatch box — he would become the fifth British Prime Minister to have sat before my lens.

A note on that figure, because it carries weight. To have photographed four serving or former Prime Ministers across a single career is, in itself, a quiet privilege. Sir John Major. Lord David Cameron. Sir Tony Blair. Lady Theresa May. Four leaders who, between them, shaped the British political landscape for more than three decades. Each sitting carried the particular gravity of the office — the weight of decisions made, of legacies still being written. A fifth would be remarkable.

Andy Burnham portrait — black and white, 2021 sitting, Mayor's Office, Manchester (Rory Lewis Photographer)

When I photographed Andy in the Mayor's office in Manchester in December 2021, he had only recently been returned for his second term with what was, by any measure, a landslide. The frames I made that day went into the archive and stayed there. Last week, going back through five years of catalogued shoots looking for something else entirely, I came across this one — and I am glad I did.

There is a tenet in this work that I now hold without compromise. Never delete a frame. Never delete a session. The picture that means little today may carry enormous historical weight tomorrow. The actor I photographed as a relative unknown becomes a household name. The brigadier becomes a chief of staff. The Mayor of Manchester puts his name forward for Prime Minister. The frame that sat for five years on a hard drive becomes, suddenly, a document.

This portrait, made in 2021, shows a man already set on his course. The chin lifted. The eyes looking past the lens to something further off. There is no posturing here, no statesmanlike pose performed for the camera — only the determination of someone who has already decided what he intends to do. The classical lighting, the corduroy shirt, the absolute simplicity of the frame — none of it was accidental. I wanted, even then, a portrait that would hold its own against any of those I had made of his predecessors at the highest office.

Five years on, looking at the frame again, I see now what I believe I saw at the time. A future Prime Minister, photographed early.

The Political Portrait Record

For those new to the work, the British Prime Ministers I have had the honour to photograph are these:

Sir John Major — Prime Minister, 1990 to 1997. A sitting delayed by the events of Brexit, in which Sir John played a prominent public role as a Remain campaigner.

Lord David Cameron — Prime Minister, 2010 to 2016. One of the most demanding sittings of my career, and a frame which, as I have written elsewhere, has cost me more than one job.

Sir Tony Blair — Prime Minister, 1997 to 2007. Sat for me twice. The second sitting, made years after the first, became a study of conviction, consequence, and time.

Lady Theresa May — Prime Minister, 2016 to 2019. Cover portrait for The Abuse of Power, published 2022. The fourth Prime Minister to stand before my lens.

And, perhaps, a fifth to come.

The archive holds.

— Rory Lewis, May 2026