Andrew, Not Andy: The New PM Revealed

When  chose to use the Makerfield by-election as his platform to oust Sir , he made a point of jettisoning the in his campaign material, as well as his own surname.

The posters all urged ‘Vote Andy’. prefers to address him in a more formal fashion.

I can disclose that has taken the decision to refer to our new Prime Minister as ‘Andrew Burnham’.

It’s a stark contrast to a previous Labour prime minister who was referred to by the palace as ‘’ rather than ‘Anthony’. Evidence of the decision has already been seen in the Court Circular, the official record of royal engagements undertaken by working members of the .

Tuesday’s Court Circular recorded: ‘His Majesty received in audience the Rt Hon Andrew Burnham MP and requested him to form a new Administration.’

It’s not clear how Burnham, who was born in a suburb of Liverpool and grew up in Culcheth, Cheshire, will take to being referred to as ‘Andrew’. His aides have made a song and dance about how informal he will be in office, saying, for example, that he will wear a jacket and tie only when at the House of Commons. The graduate’s preferred outfit is a black T-shirt and jeans.

Styles of address can be a controversial subject for the royals. When Blair and his wife went to Balmoral to stay with Queen Elizabeth at her beloved Scottish residence for the first time, there was an uncomfortable moment with Princess Anne.

Lancashire-born Cherie recalled in her memoirs, Speaking for Myself: ‘At one point in that first year, Princess Anne came over and said something that included “Mrs Blair”. “Oh. Please call me Cherie,” I said. “I’d rather not,” she replied. “It’s not the way I’ve been brought up.” ’ Cherie added that her relationship with the princess ‘went rapidly downhill and never recovered’.

Kershaw's 'nasty' swipe at Burnham's wife

Andy Burnham’s wife, Marie-France van Heel, has been given a taste of the unkind scrutiny she can expect now her husband is Prime Minister.

The BBC’s longest-serving woman DJ, Liz Kershaw, commented on the £850 Victoria Beckham lilac ‘Edith’ midi-dress that Marie-France, 56, wore as she entered Downing Street.

‘Apparently this dress is by Victoria Beckham,’ Kershaw, 67, wrote online next to this photograph. ‘Bit nasty of her to let Mrs Burnham pay 900 quid for something in Crimpelene that doesn’t fit her. Sisterhood eh?’

Her comment caused a social media storm, with reactions such as: ‘This is so mean-spirited and nasty.’

Gossip Girl star Kelly Rutherford was born in Kentucky, raised in California, and played affluent New Yorker Lily van der Woodsen in the hit US drama. 

But the American actress felt at home when she visited Britain. ‘It’s an amazing thing to see, because I stayed in the English countryside and everyone looked like my grandparents,’ she says on the Travel Secrets podcast.

‘I saw all these couples and I thought... this is so familiar to me,’ adds Kelly, 57, who has English and Danish ancestry.

World Cup Laura reveals her tale of backstage passion

Although he appears in a non-speaking role in the BBC’s new licence fee advert fronted by comedian Romesh Ranganathan, sitcom legend Sir David Jason hasn’t been shy to slam the corporation publicly in recent years. 

The Only Fools And Horses star, briefly seen in the new advert dressed as alter ego Derek Trotter, has previously complained: ‘The BBC expanded too far, too fast, into areas it had no business in. There’s a lot of deadwood there and it could do with pruning.’

Now there’s a slogan…

Newly appointed Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has far more glamorous ambitions outside Westminster. ‘I would love to do Strictly Come Dancing,’ Sir Keir Starmer’s former Chief Whip tells me at the New Statesman summer reception.

‘My mum’s one of the biggest Strictly fans in the country so, like all northern boys, I want to make my mum proud.’

Reynolds, 45, who hails from County Durham, admits: ‘I can’t dance though.’ That failed to deter former Labour Cabinet ministers Ed Balls and Jacqui Smith.

Winstone's girl takes wing

While actress Jaime Winstone is reportedly in ‘advanced’ talks about competing in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, her elder sister is waltzing her way to a new career of her own.

Lois, 44, is exhibiting her paintings for the first time.

Her debut work, Golden Dreams, is on display at Indelible Fine Art in Brighton, East Sussex, in aid of The Lily Foundation.

‘I’m the black sheep of the family,’ claims the daughter of Hollywood hardman Ray Winstone. ‘I definitely describe myself as a late bloomer. It took me a while to get my confidence and just to go out there.’

Sir Andy Murray may have hung up his tennis racket, but he’s still serving aces when it comes to making money. 

The former Wimbledon champion, 39, has reported £21.5million in accumulated earnings at 77 Management, the private company into which he channels his pay. Its takings, reported in newly filed accounts, include a £1.5million profit for the year to March 2025. Smashing.