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.
Burnham's Denial
‘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.’
Onlookers' Bafflement
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.
Criticism and Scepticism
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?’
