𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Andy Burnham met his Dutch-born wife Marie-France van Heel while they were both studying at the University of Cambridge. The marketing executive was by her husband’s side as he won the Makerfield by-election and will no doubt be there when he enters Downing Street as Britain’s next prime minister on Monday (July 20).

Mr Burnham met his future wife at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, in 1989, when the pair bonded over their love for The Smiths. Despite appearing on Cilla Black’s Blind Date, where her choice of date described her as a “cold fish”, Ms Van Heel has tended to shun the spotlight, leaving her husband to grab the attention.

Ms van Heel, 56, previously worked for BSkyB, launched her own company, MVH Marketing, and was Chief Exec at the creative consultancy, Heavenly, which counts the BBC, National Trust and England Rugby among its clients.

She currently sits on the board of electric vehicle charging network Be.EV and has raised money for a number of charities, including Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The Burnhams married in 2000 and have three children, Jimmy, 26, Annie, 21, and 24-year-old Rosie, who was also at the Makerfield count to congratulate her father on the by-election victory which propelled him towards No.10.

A former colleague of Ms van Heel said when Mr Burnham served in Sir Tony Blair’s and Gordon Brown’s governments she did not enjoy “being a political wife”.

They told The Daily Mail: “I’m sure Frankie will turn up and be supportive when she needs to be, but she’s just not comfortable in the spotlight.”

When the new Labour leader made a bid in 2015 for the leadership Ms van Heel recalled with humour that she was attracted by his long hair, good looks and “the monobrow”.

In 2010, Ms van Heel offered a rare glimpse into her personal life when she revealed she underwent a double mastectomy after she was diagnosed with the breast cancer gene, BRCA1.

Three of her relatives died from the disease, including her sister Claire, who passed away aged just 39.

Mr Burnham told the Daily Mirror in 2010 that the decision was hard to make, but it had “lifted the cloud of fear”.

He told the publication: “She did what she did because she’d seen the devastation breast cancer had caused to her sisters and mother. We more than most know what could have happened and we had to find a way to get beyond it.”

When the former Mayor of Greater Manchester told his wife of his ambition to return to Westminster, Ms van Heel’s reaction was not wholly supportive.

The incoming PM told The Sunday Times that her response was “probably a two word answer” and she was only “probably half-joking”. Mr Burnham admitted that “some encouragement” was needed.

As for her Blind Date experience, Ms van Heel reportedly met her “date”, Will Harris, years later in a bar at the House of Commons.

While she had largely remained on the fringes of political life, he had gone on to become marketing director for the Conservative Party.