Courteeners frontman Liam Fray has backed Andy Burnham in his Labour leadership bid, saying he has done “a fantastic job in Manchester”.

• READ MORE: Liam Fray talks Courteeners’ legacy, survival and unfinished business: “To be still breathing and wanting to do it is a fucking miracle”

Fray appeared on Radio X’s drivetime show with Johnny Vaughan yesterday (July 9), where he was asked about Burnham, the former Greater Manchester Mayor who is now on course to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour leader and Prime Minister.

Burnham has long been linked with a return to Westminster and a future Labour leadership bid, and he returned to the Commons as Labour MP for Makerfield last month. With Starmer having confirmed he will step down, Burnham secured the backing of 322 Labour MPs yesterday, leaving him on course to win the leadership, and it is now very likely he will be sworn in as Prime Minister on July 20.

During the Radio X interview, Vaughan noted that Burnham has often quoted the Courteeners lyric “God bless the band” from ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ in speeches, and asked Fray whether he liked him.

“Yeah, very much so,” Fray replied.

When asked what Burnham would be like as a leader, Fray said: “I think he’s done a fantastic job in Manchester.”

Asked what Burnham had done, Fray joked: “Just comes to our gigs, really!”

“Listen, he’s got good taste,” he added. “What more can you say?”

Back in 2021, Burnham shouted out the band during his Greater Manchester mayoral election victory speech, quoting ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and telling the crowd: “God bless the band. If you know, you know…”

Burnham also recently drew on another Manchester band, with Oasis granting him permission to use ‘Some Might Say’ in a by-election campaign video.

Elsewhere in the interview, Fray was asked whether Courteeners would “answer the call” if Oasis were to ask them to support any further live shows next year.

“Yes,” Fray replied. Asked again whether he would be up for it if the rumoured dates happen, Fray said: “I would, yeah. Yeah, probably.”

Fray said he had seen Oasis at both Heaton Park and Wembley during their reunion run, which saw Liam and Noel Gallagher return to the stage together for the first time in 16 years.

The comments come as Courteeners prepare to release their first ‘best of’ compilation, ‘God Bless The Band’, on August 28. The title is taken from that same line in ‘Not Nineteen Forever’, and the collection will also include the recent singles ‘The Luckiest Man Alive’ and ‘Plus One Forever’.

Courteeners are also set to play a huge homecoming show at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park next month, with support from The Vaccines, The Coral and more. Before then, they will top the bill at Tramlines in Sheffield, before a full UK arena tour follows in November. See all of the dates here and find any remaining tickets here.

Speaking to NME in April, Fray took stock of the band’s legacy, survival and unfinished business, after marking their 20th anniversary with a tiny show at Manchester’s Night & Day Café.

“This little gig at Night & Day, it’s made my year. I fucking love that place,” he said. “Even that being part of the launch of the ‘best of’ and the story… 20 years is not to be sniffed at. This industry will kick the shit out of you, so to be still breathing and wanting to do it is a fucking miracle, if I’m honest.”

The frontman also discussed why now was the right time for a career-spanning collection. “I had these two new songs, but the truth is there wasn’t an album there. Sometimes you have these outliers that don’t fit your record,” he said.

“They felt really fresh to me. [Sometimes] you hold on to a song, it’s lost its spark and you’ve lost your respect for it. You know what? No, let’s put these out. I’ll be honest with you, the ‘best of’ is not that much work from our point of view. I say that – I spent about six weeks doing fucking artwork!”