Tough decisions for Andy Burnham – take our quiz and guess the tracks he picked for his tour of England’s regions

With a song in his heart … Andy Burnham visits Stevenage during his summer tour of the UK regions. Photograph: James Manning/PA

Freshly minted as prime minister, Andy Burnham has been touring the regions of England, holding a series of reception events – soundtracked with regionally specific songs.

1. First up, can you guess what he picked for the musical backdrop in London?

   1. The Clash – London’s Burning

   2. The Clash – The Guns of Brixton

   3. The Clash – London Calling

   4. The Clash – Julie’s Been Working For The Drug Squad

2. What song did Burnham play in the West Midlands?

   1. Slade – Cum On Feel The Noize

   2. ELO – Mr Blue Sky

   3. The Specials – A Message To You Rudy

   4. Napalm Death – From Enslavement To Obliteration

3. What song did Burnham play in the north-west?

   1. The Stone Roses – I Am the Resurrection

   2. The Zutons – Valerie

   3. New Order – True Faith

   4. Half Man Half Biscuit – Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshite

4. What song did Burnham play in the south-west?

   1. Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy

   2. XTC – Making Plans For Nigel

   3. Muse – Uprising

   4. The Pop Group – Amnesty International Report on British Army Torture of Irish Prisoners

5. What song did Burnham play in the east of England?

   1. Depeche Mode - Just Can’t Get Enough

   2. Pink Floyd – The Great Gig In the Sky

   3. Blur – Song 2

   4. The Darkness – Japanese Prisoner of Love

6. What song did Burnham play in Yorkshire?

   1. Chumbawamba – Tubthumping

   2. The Human League – Don’t You Want Me

   3. Pulp – Common People

   4. Cabaret Voltaire – Do the Mussolini (Headkick)

7. What song did Burnham play in the south east?

   1. Wham! – Freedom

   2. Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill

   3. The Jam – A Town Called Malice

   4. Caravan – If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You

8. What song did Burnham play in the East Midlands?

   1. London Grammar – Strong

   2. Jake Bugg – Lightning Bolt

   3. Kasabian – Fire

   4. Sleaford Mods – Jolly Fucker

9. What song did Burnham play in the north-east?

   1. Sam Fender – Rein Me In

   2. Sam Fender – Hypersonic Missiles

   3. Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'N’ Roll

   4. Venom – In League With Satan

10. And a bonus question: when Burnham was quizzed for his favourite albums by music website the Quietus in 2022, which of these featured in his list?

    1. Primal Scream – Screamadelica

    2. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

    3. The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy & the Lash

    4. Carcass – Reek of Putrefaction

Solutions

1:C - Curious choice – eternally rousing staccato guitar riff, obviously, but its depiction of London as a broiling apocalyptic hellscape would give pause to even the most dedicated fabricator of GB News-appropriate fantasies about the capital’s no-go zones. Also snippily describes the rest of the UK as 'the imitation zone', which seems both very London, and a bit off-message given the PM's passion for devolution., 2:B - That’s more like it, tonally: the dawning of not just 'a beautiful new day', but 'the day we’ve waited for', visions of universal acclaim ('we’re so pleased to be with you … everybody smiles at you'), etc. Also: imagine the kind of joyless berk that not only actively dislikes Mr Blue Sky by ELO but makes a point of telling people. , 3:B - Possibly controversial to pick an artist from Merseyside to represent the north-west, given the PM’s former gig in Manchester, and you could argue that Amy Winehouse’s celebrated version means Valerie registers more as a London song than a Liverpool one. But extra 6Music Dad points for going for the original rather than the better-known cover. , 4:C - Rock and pop artists seldom react with joy to the news that their music has been appropriated by a politician, but one suspects Muse will be delighted by Labour’s co-option, given that their most high-profile 'political' fan thus far was far-right US wing-nut Glenn Beck. , 5:A - Again, a song it’s hard to imagine anyone really disliking, and again a band presumably happier to be associated with Labour than with their previous high-profile political fan, the US neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, who claimed their music had 'a fascist element'. ('He’s a cunt,' responded Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan) , 6:B - Hmmm. Immediately recognisable riff, tried-and-tested singalong chorus, but … the tone is one of wheedling desperation: the protagonist is yesterday’s man, fruitlessly pleading for another chance and harrumphing at the ingratitude with which he’s been treated. For a Smiths fan, the prime minister doesn’t seem to pay much attention to lyrics, does he? , 7:B - Intriguing choice: less obviously anthemic than the other songs Labour have picked and noticeably weirder, although its post-Stranger Things profile boost means it’s immediately recognisable. The lyrics – about male/female communication – are somehow suggestive of coming struggle, and hard choices to be made , 8:C - When Fire was released in 2009, Kasabian’s then-frontman Tom Meighan described it to the Guardian as flipping out, saying if the song were a person he would be nice, but 'then he’s got a hammer in his hand the next minute'. One can only assume Labour are playing the song’s anthemic chorus, rather than the downbeat and faintly disquieting verses, 9:A - Ordinarily, you might suggest that a song that’s just spent nearly six months at No 1 could be a little too familiar for its own good, but – as a recent Guardian feature noted – atomised 21st-century music consumption means vast swathes of the populace seem never to have heard it: the risk may lie in provoking a vast sea of nonplussed WTF-is-this? faces., 10:C - Delightful though it may be to imagine the prime minister kicking back at Chequers to the strains of Carcass’s Feast On Dismembered Carnage or Vomited Anal Tract, he was clearly not the type of 80s John Peel listener drawn to the august DJ’s love of grindcore. Instead, he’s been known to 'put the Pogues on, go mad and have a dance'

Scores

1. 0 and above.

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