Andy Burnham’s wife leaves marketing job to take on first lady-style role
Andy Burnham was accompanied by his wife on his trip to the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.
Marie-France van Heel, wife of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has left her job as a marketing executive and is thought to be taking on an unofficial first lady-style role.
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A Downing Street spokesperson said Ms van Heel had stepped away from her position as chief customer officer at the electric vehicle charging network company Be.EV.
It was reported on Friday that she had decided to focus on supporting her husband, the Prime Minister, in his role which requires attending both international and domestic events.
The spokesperson for No 10 said: “Marie-France van Heel has taken the decision to step down from her position as chief customer officer at Be.EV.
“She will continue to serve on the company’s board in an advisory role.
“The Prime Minister has already recused himself of any decisions relating to EV charging.”
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Earlier this week, Ms van Heel accompanied Mr Burnham to the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, where she met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife, Olena.
Ms Zelenska described their meeting on X as “a pleasure” and wrote they discussed “support for Ukraine, the work of the Global Coalition for Ukrainian Studies” and plans to mark a Ukrainian Week in the UK later this year.
She also met Canadian prime minister Mark Carney’s spouse, Diana Fox Carney, and US first lady Melania Trump.
Ms van Heel met Mr Burnham at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, when they were undergraduates in 1989.
She has spent much of her career in marketing, at one stage working for BSkyB before setting up her own firm MVH Marketing.
She later became chief strategy officer at London-based agency Heavenly, which has worked on campaigns for HSBC, England Rugby and the BBC, and chief customer officer at Be.EV.