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Andy Burnham revealed he took part in a pitch invasion as a football-mad teenager, when police battled to hold back fans after a dramatic FA Cup semi-final. The former mayor, set to become the UK’s next Prime Minister, also revealed his favourite snack from Greggs was a sausage, cheese, and bean melt, as he answered questions from the public on social media service Instagram.

He was continuing his policy of taking questions from the public rather than the media, as he released a video setting out his thoughts on education, water utilities and housing as well as music, beer and football. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Mr Burnham of “answering softball questions” and challenged him to “face a proper press conference and submit yourself to scrutiny”.

Asked to name a fondest memory, he said: “Gotta be careful about this one, but it is actually running on the pitch at Highbury in 1984 when Everton scored a last-minute winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton.”

Photos from the time show police attempting to restore order as fans invaded the pitch at Highbury Stadium, Arsenal’s home ground at the time. Mr Burnham, a life-long Everton supporter, would have been 14.

Answering queries from Instagram users about his policies, Mr said the current state of the water industry “can’t carry on”. He said: “We have a situation with water where the shareholders never lose, the bill payers never win.”

He promised “the biggest council house-building program this country has seen since the Second World War” with modern homes “that are cheaper to rent and cheaper to run with lower bills”.

And he vowed to expand technical education. Mr Burnham said: “I think it’s time to call to an end the era when we have been overly focused on the university route.”

Interspersed with the political questions were more personal queries, such as his favourite type of drink. Mr Burnham revealed he likes German lager, while his favourite Stone Roses song is Sugar Spun Sister.

He also said his favourite Smiths album is Hatful of Hollow – likely to be a controversial choice with Smiths purists, as this is technically a compilation.

It followed an “ask me anything” session on website Reddit, in which Mr Burnham answered questions from the site’s members.

But Labour MP refused to take questions from the media last week, after delivering his first major speech since winning the Makerfield by-election.