Former Bulk Distributor assistant editor Andy Burnham is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking an extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry press to the steps of Downing Street.

Following a victory in a recent by-election to Parliament, Burnham is the strong favourite to replace Sir Keir Starmer, who resigned as Prime Minister on 22 June.

Burnham served as a journalist on Tank World – the predecessor to today’s Bulk Distributor – during the magazine’s early years, covering tank containers, IBCs, rail tanks and bulk-liquid logistics.

He joined the magazine in October 1991, after graduating from Cambridge University, but left in 1994 to become research assistant to the late Tessa Jowell, a Labour MP, and also stepmother to another Tank World alumni, journalist Eleanor Mills.

After a brief spell as parliamentary officer of the NHS Confederation, he became an MP in 2001. Burnham first served as a junior minister under Tony Blair, and then joined the cabinet as chief secretary to the Treasury, and later culture secretary and health secretary, under Gordon Brown.

In 2017 he stood down from Parliament to run as mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham won the contest with more than 60 percent of the vote and was re-elected by an even bigger margin in 2021.

As mayor, he drew praise for his transformation of the region’s transport system, a competence that Bulk Distributor hopes he can apply to the country’s freight rail system.

His prospective arrival at 10 Downing Street would be a remarkable footnote in the magazine’s history, clearly demonstrating that a grounding in specialist publishing, industrial transport and the complexities of bulk distribution can evidently prepare an individual for almost any leadership challenge.

Patrick Hicks, founder and publisher of Tank World/Bulk Distributor and EuroBulk Systems, recalls: “Andy was a pleasure to work with: easy-going, conscientious and a hard-working journalist who took a real interest in the industry. When he told me he’d been offered a role as a research assistant to an MP, I recognised that this was a great opportunity for him, and the whole team on the magazine wished him the best of luck – although none of us could have guessed where his change of career would eventually take him!”