British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has withdrawn from public engagements today and tomorrow after the death of his father, Roy, who had been living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Mr Burnham has previously spoken about the impact of his father’s illness, including the fact that Roy no longer knew his son had become prime minister.
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That personal experience has helped shape Mr Burnham’s determination to overhaul the social care system.
The prime minister had been scheduled to welcome business leaders to No 10 this afternoon.
He has said his father did not realise that he was on the verge of reaching the highest office in the country.
“That’s a sadness because he would be (proud). The way I look at it, it’s his achievement as well. A whole family achievement although he doesn’t know it,” Mr Burnham said.
Later that month, in a major speech setting out plans for social care reform, Mr Burnham vowed to support “my dad and the millions like him” who face what he described as the unfairness of the current system.
Communities Secretary Angela Rayner said: “My thoughts are with Andy and his family at this terribly difficult – and sad time.”
Mr Burnham’s father was in his mid-80s and worked as a telephone engineer, first for the Post Office before moving to BT.
Roy and the prime minister’s mother, Eileen, raised their three sons in Culcheth, Cheshire.
In his book Look North, Mr Burnham recalled the “close-knit” family life he experienced during the 70s and 80s.
Writing in the 2024 book, which he co-authored with Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram, Mr Burnham said: “Neither my dad, Roy, nor my mum, Eileen, went to university.
“But both could have done if they had grown up in a different time and in a different place.
“Their knowledge of that fact seemed to make them all the more determined that their three sons would go. But that did not make them pushy parents in any way.
“Their approach was one of quiet encouragement and confidence-building. Our family home in Culcheth was always full of music, life, laughter, love and support.”
