Andy Burnham's wife, Marie-France van Heel, advised him against pursuing a third bid for the Labour leadership, according to his recent remarks. She cautioned him, "They have told you twice they don't want you," he revealed in an interview with Elizabeth Day's How to Fail podcast.
Van Heel, whom Burnham met while studying at Cambridge University in the late 1980s, initially reacted to his decision to challenge Keir Starmer by exclaiming, "What? Not again." Burnham described his wife as direct in her feedback on his past endeavors, stating, "She was like, 'What? Not again. They told you twice they don't want you. Why are you doing it again?'"
Burnham launched two previous bids for the Labour leadership. In 2010, he finished fourth behind the Miliband brothers and Ed Balls. Five years later, he came in second place to Jeremy Corbyn. He subsequently left Parliament in 2017 to successfully run for the Greater Manchester mayoralty.
He reflected that not securing the leadership in earlier attempts ultimately made him a "much better politician" as he had not fully considered the implications. Burnham suggested that the "Westminster world" can influence politicians to think and speak in a certain way, often adhering to party lines rather than expressing their authentic selves.
Van Heel, a brand marketing executive, accompanied Burnham to Downing Street upon his assumption of power last month. However, she is not expected to reside there permanently, preferring their base in Greater Manchester, where Burnham has established a new "No 10 North" outpost. A new official portrait of the Prime Minister, taken in the No 10 Garden, was released by his office on Monday.
Burnham also shared that his father, Roy, who has Alzheimer's, has only a fleeting awareness of his son's current role. Staff at his father's care home reportedly observed him momentarily react to his son's arrival at Downing Street, with staff noting, "We thought he knew."
The Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to addressing the social care crisis. He stated his resolve to proceed with his agenda despite criticism of his prior "death tax" proposal, expressing his belief that voters are receptive to "quite radical" solutions for the issue.