How Andy Burnham's school teacher inspired him to believe in himself

How Andy Burnham's school teacher inspired him to believe in himselfImage caption, Stephen Harrington was Andy Burnham's teacher in the late 1980s and persuaded the now-MP to apply to Cambridge UniversityByGeorgie Docker, Paul Burnell, North West and Jonny Humphries, Reporting fromin WarringtonPublished1 minute ago"He needed a lot of persuading to apply because he felt that as a working-class boy, going off to Cambridge wasn't for him. He didn't believe in himself, but he did it, and the rest is history."These are the words of former English teacher Stephen Harrington on the advice he gave to a 16-year-old Andy Burnham in 1986 at St Aelred's Catholic High School in Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside.The man, now widely tipped to win any Labour leadership contest and become prime minister, has credited his former teacher with boosting his confidence at that pivotal time in his life."My son has been saying to me 'you've changed history Dad', but he likes a good phrase," Harrington said. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Burnham said his former English teacher "lifted him" to achieve more than he thought possibleBurnham returned to Westminster last week as MP for Makerfield, after a by-election was triggered by the resignation of the constituency's Labour MP Josh Simons.Following Sir Keir Starmer's announcement on Monday that he would step down, Burnham is currently the only candidate running in a leadership election in the Labour Party. Burnham grew up in Culcheth, a quiet commuter belt village in Cheshire, near Warrington, having been born in Liverpool. He was entering his first year of sixth form at the local Roman Catholic comprehensive, when he joined Harrington's A-Level English class. Harrington described him as "really pleasant" and a "bright lad", who was modest. "Here he was playing cricket for Lancashire Schoolboys, which is a very prestigious thin...