It’s all eyes on 10 Downing Street as Andy Burnham becomes the UK’s new prime minister and delivers a speech outlining his 10-year plan for the country today. Big cabinet announcements are expected, in an arrival that marks Britain’s seventh prime minister in just over a decade.
Andy Burnham’s Makerfield by-election win last month – beating Reform in a landslide victory – has put him in the spotlight as the country’s next leader. Things are moving fast. Keir Starmer is also set to make a final address outside of Number 10 today, before he travels with Burnham to visit King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
With all that in mind, Burnham’s his wife of 25 years, Marie-France van Heel, is set to become Britain’s next ‘First Lady’. Read on for everything you need to know about the woman who could soon find herself in Downing Street, including her work, family life and style.
How did Andy Burnham and Marie-France van Heel meet?
Also known as ‘Frankie’, Marie-France van Heel was born in the Netherlands and grew up between there and Belgium. She moved to the United Kingdom to study English at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, in 1989, which is where she met Burnham.
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The couple started dating, but van Heel soon asked Burnham for permission to appear on Blind Date, the popular dating show hosted by Cilla Black, which he granted. On the show, Van Heel picked ‘Will from Surrey’ to go on a date, but the romance did not last long. Reflecting on their date one week later, Will described Frankie as a ‘cold fish’ and she threw a cushion at him. Will went on to become a marketing director for the Conservative party.
Van Heel reflected on the experience decades later: ‘I thought that appearing on TV dating show might raise my profile and help my career. Twenty years of intermittent mickey-taking was the result, but I’m happy to embrace my 15 minutes of fame/shame.’
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Eventually, Burnham and van Heel rekindled and they married in 2000, eight years after her Blind Date appearance.
Since then, van Heel has generally stayed out of the spotlight, bar occasionally accompanying Burnham to public events, including celebrating his recent by-election win. At the celebrations, she was pictured wearing a smart-casual outfit of a lightweight polka-dot shirt, open to reveal a simple black tank top and styled with wide-legged cropped trousers, platform Converse trainers, large square sunglasses and layered silver chain necklaces.
What does Marie-France van Heel do for work?
Van Heel has had a successful career of her own, working in corporate marketing and strategic branding.
According to a profile on Plan International UK’s website, Marie-France is now the Chief Customer Officer for the Octopus Energy Generation backed electric vehicle charging company Be.EV. She is also on the Be.EV board of directors and the board of Plan International UK, a global charity aiming to improve gender equality for girls.
Previously, van Heel worked for British Sky Broadcasting and had her own firm, MVH Marketing, which was dissolved in 2011. She went on to become CEO of London-based branding firm Heavenly, whose clients include HSBC, England Rugby and the BBC.
What is Marie-France van Heel’s family life like?
The Burnhams welcomed their first son, Jimmy, in March 2000 while living near Brixton in London. In October of that year, the couple went on to marry, shortly before Burnham was first selected as an MP, prompting their move north. The couple later had two daughters, Rosie and Annie.
In a profile on Plan International UK’s website, van Heel is said to be able to speak three languages and that she is ‘politically active and splits her time between the NW of England and London’. It adds: ‘Her two teenage daughters keep her on her toes and plugged into the various issues that young women are deeply passionate about.’
Van Heel has been described as a key source of support throughout Burnham’s years in politics. As a mother who has spent decades navigating public life through both her career and 25-year marriage to an MP, and with her experience of life in both London and the North, van Heel is expected to bring a wealth of real-world perspective to the unofficial First Lady role – along with, perhaps, more casual-chic wardrobe moments.
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Chiara Wilkinson is the Deputy Multiplatform Editor of ELLE UK, looking after the Culture + Life section on the website. She was previously Deputy Editor at Time Out and Senior Digital Editor at ArtReview and has written for British Vogue, The Guardian and Vice, covering arts, culture, wellness and travel. Chiara was named one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 awards and was shortlisted for Best Features Writer at the BSME awards.