Burnham is in the running... but why did the jogging mayor drive home?

By LIZ HULL, NORTHERN CORRESPONDENT Published: 22:50, 17 May 2026 | Updated: 22:50, 17 May 2026 After being photographed ‘in the running’ for the Labour leadership on Friday, fitness fan Andy Burnham insisted to sceptics that he had not arranged for his daily jog to be filmed by the media. ‘They were camped outside my house all day... and doorstepped me,’ he wrote on X. ‘I can assure you I wouldn’t arrange to be filmed.’ But the Daily Mail can reveal that onlookers were somewhat baffled when – after departing his large, gated Victorian-style home in Merseyside at 12.18pm – Mr Burnham returned 45 minutes later not out of puff on foot, but instead behind the wheel of his VW Golf. As the photos landed on newsdesks and headlines flashed alongside them that Mr Burnham was ‘on the right track’, ‘hitting the ground running’ and ‘out of the blocks in the race for Prime Minister’, he was actually collecting his car from an unknown location nearby – and by 1.05pm was back home. Andy Burnham left his large, gated Victorian-style home in Merseyside at 12.18pm on Friday for his daily jog But surprised onlookers when he returned 45 minutes later not out of puff on foot, but instead behind the wheel of his VW Golf Called out by critics online, the Mayor of Greater Manchester insisted his short jog was not a publicity stunt. But one onlooker who was there on Friday remained sceptical.  ‘It was definitely staged,’ they said. ‘How would the television cameras know to be on the exact spot on his route if it wasn’t a set-up?’ The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.