Andy Burnham shares wife Marie-France van Heel’s first reaction to his plan to run for PM

Andy Burnham shares wife Marie-France van Heel’s first reaction to his plan to run for PM Appearing on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, the Makerfield MP also opened up care staff showing his dad’s, who has Alzheimer’s, footage of him at Downing Street Andy Burnham has revealed his wife required convincing for him to run to be Prime Minister and previously mocked his interviews for not answering the question. The new PM said Marie-France van Heel’s first reaction was “not again”, adding that she was always “blunt” about his “political failures”. Appearing on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, the Makerfield MP also opened up care staff showing his dad Roy, who has Alzheimer’s, footage of him at Downing Street. Asked about his wife’s reaction to his ambitions, which saw him replace Keir Starmer as leader, Mr Burnham said: “It's why I find this podcast easy because she's quite blunt in telling me about my failures in past endeavours and she doesn't hold back and there's no soft landing there. “Yeah, she was like, ‘What? Not again. They told you twice they don't want you. Why are you doing it again?’ No, we've always just had honest conversations about it. “She took some persuading, to be honest, because I guess she didn't want to see me go through it all again and then end out on the wrong side, at the end of it. But she gives me good advice.” Mr Burnham said his wife also had a history of honest reactions to his interviews, dating back to the early 2000s. He said: “I would come out and I'd turn my phone on, the old Nokia mobile phone and first text in block capitals from said person, this is what it would read, "Answer the f***ing question." Mr Burnham also shared that something “wonderful” had happened at the care home of his dad. A visibly emotional PM said: “I went into his care home on Sunday, and so for people listening now, because this may have gone out later, this was the Sunday after I'd become Prime Minister, so six days later. One of the staff said, ‘Oh, the manager wants to speak to you before you leave.’ "She said, ‘We all knew what time you might be coming up Downing Street so we got Roy in his chair, and we got the telly right in front of him, and six of us stood around him and all said, ‘Roy, look.’ And she said he turned and momentarily, they said, ‘We thought he knew.’"