After finishing his speech outside No 10 Downing Street, Andy Burnham turned and gestured for someone in the crowd to join him. She didn't. Instead, he walked over, embraced her and kissed her forehead. This was Marie-France van Heel, Burnham's wife.
Who is Marie-France van Heel?
Known as Frankie to family and close friends, Marie-France van Heel has been described as 'the coolest girl in the college' by Professor John Mullan, who taught Burnham English at Cambridge. She was a student at Fitzwilliam College, where she and Burnham met. Notably, she appeared on the TV show Blind Date while dating the future PM, ending up in Gibraltar with 'Will from Surrey', who later became a top Conservative official.
How did they meet?
Marie-France met Andy Burnham on her first day at Cambridge, with Burnham a year above. In a video for his Labour leadership bid, she recalled that on their first night he told her he wanted to be an MP. 'I left the room at that point,' she said. They married in 2000 after having their first child, and a year later Burnham became MP for Leigh.
What does she do?
Marie-France speaks three languages and was chief strategy officer for branding agency Heavenly, which designed logos for English Rugby and the BBC. Some credit her with the distinctive styling of Burnham's campaigns. Currently, she is chief marketing officer for Iduna, a green infrastructure company that owns a large part of Manchester's electric vehicle charging network. Opposition parties have raised questions, but Burnham said he declared her job and played no role in decisions involving Iduna.
Do they have children?
Andy and Marie-France have three children. Jimmy, born in 2000, works for the Royal College of Nursing. Their daughters Rosie and Annie are in their early twenties; Rosie works for Jägermeister and Annie recently graduated from Cardiff University.
