Quietly, subtly, the outsider': Andy Burnham's dress sense decoded

"In direct contrast to his tie-wearing colleagues in parliament, Burnham's style feels particularly symbolic. Ever since his move away from Westminster politics, Burnham has been dressing differently, eschewing the uniform of his former suited-and-booted colleagues. Largely ditching the suit and tie, he prefers black bomber jackets, black jumpers with no shirt underneath, black blazers and black T-shirts, with the odd workwear jacket thrown in."

"Andrew Groves, a professor of fashion design and director of the Westminster Menswear Archive, says Burnham's all-black workwear look is as calculated as any Westminster suit, just aimed at a different audience. Its casualness is loaded. As Groves puts it: It rejects parliamentary polish and signals Mancunian proximity: practical, ordinary, and deliberately outside London political dress codes. According to Jonathan Tonge, a professor of politics at the University of Liverpool, Burnham's fashion statements match his politics: mildly left of centre, moderately radical, nonconformist."

"With Labour blocking Andy Burnham from returning as an MP, the so-called king of the north came out wearing a simple black V-neck jumper with dark denim jeans. The Greater Manchester mayor, appearing at the launch of a Class Ceiling report at the city's Whitworth gallery on Monday, looked quietly, subtly, the outsider. It might not sound like much. But that is the point of Burnham's largely unnoteworthy look, which tends to involve Left Bank intellectual-adjacent black-on-black."

Andy Burnham consistently favors an all-black, casual wardrobe—V-neck jumpers, black bomber jackets, blazers, T-shirts and dark denim—eschewing the traditional suit-and-tie of Westminster politicians. His look deliberately signals distance from parliamentary polish and projects Mancunian proximity: practical, ordinary and outside London political dress codes. The wardrobe functions as a political statement aligning with mildly left-of-centre, moderately radical, nonconformist positions, while retaining readiness to wear formal suits when required. The style reflects his role as Greater Manchester's first metro mayor and positions him as an outsider to Westminster norms, reinforcing regional identity and accessibility.

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