Here’s Andy Burnham’s genuine Manchester-themed playlist

On 15 March, Labour’s Andy Burnham launched his manifesto to be the first mayor of Greater Manchester. And in case we were in any doubt about which city he was campaigning to be mayor of, the event was very carefully stage-managed.

The food on offer included Manchester tarts and Eccles Cakes. The event began with a video highlighting Manchester’s history of radical left-wing thought, all set to the tune of “This is the one” by the Mancunian band, the Stone Roses.

And the playlist running in the background while attendees first gathered was composed entirely of songs from or about Manchester. All Madchester, all the time.

One can mock all this. In fact, one did:

ICYMI and are a masochist, my complete adventures at Andy Burnham’s manifesto launch https://t.co/KSXqGyrc17

— Jonn Elledge (@JonnElledge) March 15, 2017

But to be fair to the campaign, Manchester has produced some genuinely fantastic music. What’s more, the city’s music scene was at its peak in the late 1980s, when Burnham himself (b.1970) would have been at a particularly formative age.

Now the campaign is over, Burnham has won handsomely, and I won’t have to deal with any irritating criticisms that I’m showing unfair favour/taking the piss. So here, courtesy of his press team, is the Burnham campaign’s complete Manchester mix-tape. There’s a link to a Spotify playlist below.