Andy Burnham Returns to Duties, Thanks Rivals for Support After Father's Death

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has returned to his official duties, expressing his gratitude to political rivals and others for their messages of support following the death of his father, Roy.

Burnham had cleared his schedule after his father passed away on Monday. Roy Burnham had been living with Alzheimer's disease. The Prime Minister had previously spoken of his sadness that his father would not be aware of his son's ascent to the premiership.

"My family and I have been helped through this difficult time by people’s warmth and compassion. It means a great deal to us and we wanted to say thank you," Burnham said in a statement shared on X. He specifically thanked the leaders of other political parties for their "warmth and compassion."

Burnham has frequently cited his father's experience with Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, as a significant motivation for his efforts to reform the social care system. He had vowed, shortly after becoming Prime Minister, to address the "unfairness of the current system" for individuals like his father.

Roy Burnham, who was in his mid-80s, had a career as a telephone engineer with the Post Office and later BT. He and his wife Eileen raised Andy Burnham and his two brothers in Culcheth, Cheshire.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to undertake engagements in the South East of England on Wednesday. Later in the day, he is due to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, followed by a meeting with Canadian counterpart Mark Carney in the North West in the evening.

During Burnham's absence, de facto Deputy Prime Minister Louise Haigh delivered a speech at the TUC conference in Brighton on Tuesday.